Negi and the Princess
by kira862
Summary: Negi Springfield is your average fifteen year old teacher. Well, except he's a wizard and now he's stuck teaching at an all girls middle school. Though a certain girl interests him. Who is she really?. His question will spark an adventure. Crazy OOC Negi
1. An Unreadable Teacher

Disclaimer: Don't Own Mahou Sensei Negima or any of the character and spells that are in this story. However I do own the spells which I came up with on my own.

Rated T for: Mild Language, Violence, and some crude humor

**Its about time that I get this thing posted. I just took forever on decided what I wanted to name this thing. Anyway its finally done. As I stated in my profile when I intended on doing this I will differ from the manga at certain points with my own story arcs that tie into the main story. ...And thats it I think. O R&R :)**

* * *

Negi Springfield sat by himself on a bullet train heading towards his new destination, which happened to be an all girls boarding school

He was a male of age fifteen. His hair was a dark shade of red on the top and dark brown along the sides making his appearance curious to strangers. From a normal persons perspective he seemed like any ordinary male teenager with the normal outlook on life, namely girls at this point in life. Though Negi was far from normal, he was in fact a wizard who had just graduated from the Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales.

He had gotten his diploma two months ago and was now on his way to the most frightening period in his life, though he didn't know it yet. When he had graduated he had been presented with his diploma which had given his assignment as a cover in the non-magical word to become a teacher at an all girls boarding school. When he had first seen this he almost passed out from shock. Afterwards he proceeded to complain to his headmaster and grandfather about the job he was presented with. Negi could still remember the reply that he had gotten from the headmaster as he had stammered out his desire for a different job.

"Negi, the words on the diploma are absolute. Even myself who is schooled in many of the forms of magic am not able to override this decision. Think of this more as your reward for being top of the class. And try not to become to distracted by all the females that are around your age."

With that he had left Negi standing there who was about ready to pass out again.

Now though with the two months that had gone by he had prepared himself mentally for what he was about to commit himself to. In reality he welcomed the challenge, feeling that this would make him one step closer to his father who he admired and wished to become a Magister Magi just like him.....Even so he was a little nervous.

During his time at the magical academy he had been the subject of many girls crushes. Though he had thought that a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was the son of his dad, The Thousand Master. His dad was known as a legend in the magical world. Though Negi could never figure out what he had actually done to deserve that title.

Sighing slightly he looked at the window at the scenery that was speeding by. 'I sure hope that I'm prepared for this,' he thought.

* * *

Two hours later Negi had transfered trains and was now only minutes away from arriving at the Mahora Academy Middle School.

Negi couldn't help but noticed that the train he was on was almost entirely made up of girls. He also noticed that he was getting a wide variety of looks from many of them.

"Look at the young man over their, he's so cute."

"I wouldn't mind having him as a boyfriend."

"Ah he's looking over here, do you think he heard us."

It was hard for Negi _not _to here them. Then the thought that any one of these girls could become his students made him wince slightly. He didn't want to think about that right now and was glad when the train came to a stop.

Negi was jostled quickly outside as every single girl rushed out of the train. Stumbling slightly from being pushed and feeling several hands touching his body, whether accident or not, his mouth fell open as he saw the sight before him.

It looked like a crowd at an amusement park that Anya's parents had taken him and Anya to one time. Though instead of mixed genders what greeted him was a sea of girls all in their early teens. Even Negi who usually had control over his developing hormones couldn't help but feel shivers going through him, and his midsection.

Willing himself to calm down whether by sheer force of will or something to do with his own magical powers he quickly hurried off to his soon to be class.

* * *

"Asuna, hurry up or where going to be late," called her friend Konoka.

"Hai, Hai, give me another minute," said Asuna as she stepped out of the shower.

Asuna Kagurazaka was fourteen years and currently changing into her school uniform. She had long flaming orange hair which was separated into long pony tails, which fell almost to her knees. Tying her two pony tails together were four bells, two on each one. She had one green and one blue eye which often scared people when the first met her. She had a rather easy out going face but people that knew her knew that that face had the potential to explode at people.

Asuna was currently drying her hair when her roommate Konoka Konoe knocked on the door. "Asuna if you don't hurry where gonna be late. The last train for school leaves in ten minutes."

"Te-te-TEN MINUTES," shrieked Asuna.

Konoka quickly stepped back as Asuna flung the door open. She had had enough experience with her roommates bad timing to know to step out of the way. A fuming Asuna stormed out of the bathroom with her hair still wet. Grabbing her bag and tossing a piece of toast in her mouth she told Konoka through a muffled mouth, "Come on, where gonna be late if we don't hurry."

Konoka simply smiled as Asuna led the way out of their dormitories.

* * *

Both of them barely managed to get to get on the train as it was pulling away from the station. Breathing heavily they both sat down in the last available seats. Konoka took of her roller skates that she had been wearing. It was only thanks to these that she was able to keep up with Asuna's ungodly speed.

Asuna however had started whispering under her breath the minute that she had sat down.

"Takahata-sensei, Takahata-sensei, Takahata-sensei. Takahata-sensei."

"Asuna, are you still performing that ritual that I told you about last night to get Takahata-sensei to fall for you."

"Of course Konoka, this year I will definitely tell him how I feel about him."

Konoka giggled, "You say that every year, but each time you try to confess your feeling to him you freeze up, and say something ridiculous."

"No this time I will be triumphant and with this ritual it will succeed."

Konoka giggled again, "What if I told you that it doesn't work, its just a myth."

Asuna slowly turned her head towards Konoka and said in a stony voice, "You'd be so dead."

Konoka simply laughed, "Your to gullible when it comes Takahata-sensei Asuna."

Asuna simply brushed it off, 'No matter what this year I will tell him how I feel,' she thought.

* * *

When they both got off the train they saw that they had only ten minutes to make it to class. Running even faster than before Konoka had trouble keeping up with Asuna.

"Ah Asuna, slow down. Your baka speed is to fast for me even with roller skates on."

Asuna turned her head quickly and shouted to Konoka, "Don't call me a ba-"

But her words were cut short as she ran into something rather solid. She fell forward onto this person only to find her face inches away from his.

Unfortunately the person happened to be Negi. He had taken out a map of the school campus to find out where he was when he had heard footsteps. Turning around quickly he saw a young teenage girl with flaming orange hair shouting at somebody over her shoulder. That was when she ran head first into him knocking the both of them down to the ground.

They both now looked back at each other both to shocked to realize what happen, or the position they where in for that matter. Negi got control of himself first and tried to say politely without trying to offend the girl. "Do you mind getting off of me."

Asuna looked back and realized how embarrassing the situation was for the two of them. She immediately jumped up and started waving her hands in front of her face apologizing for what had happened.

Negi got up slowly and looked at her rather curiously before saying, "I didn't know that teenage girls liked thirty year old men."

It took a second for that to sink in to Asuna, but then she tackled him as hard as she could. "What was that you jerk. And how do you even know that....that I....thatIlikethirtyyearoldmen," she said this last bit extremely fast while holding on to the collar of his cloak.

Negi immediately realized what he had mentioned and quickly made something up before this girl became suspicious. "I'm somewhat of a psychic." The other girl next to her immediately became excited.

"Oh a psychic, so that mean you can read fortunes as well. I've always wanted to have a real psychic read my future," Konoka said.

Negi however was saved the need to reply when someone came around the corner.

"Negi-kun is that you," asked a surprised Takamichi Takahata.

Negi was just as surprised as Takamichi was and for a moment forgot the predicament he was in, "Takamichi-san, its been a while."

He laughed, "Yes it has." Then he smirked as he saw the situation. "Still popular with the ladies I see. Well, try not to let your emotions get the better of you while your hear. Oh and Asuna," he said now addressing her.

She just stared back at him unable to say anything. "Try not to get to physical with Negi-kun here."

With that he turned and walked back from where he came.

Asuna was still to shocked to think of anything to say. Negi however was doing his best to get out from under her. It was starting to annoy him a little bit. She however wasn't about to let it slide that easily. Grabbing his shoulders she repeatedly slammed him into the ground over and over while shouting, "LOOK WHAT JUST HAPPENED THANKS TO YOU. NOW TAKAHATA-SENSEI THINKS THAT I'M SOME KIND OF HENTAI."

Negi felt like his head was about to split open. He was also surprised at the strength and ferociousness of this girl. He had certainly never met a girl like her before. Now though with their faces closer again her long hair was starting to tickle his noes. "Oh no," he thought. But before he could tell her to get off him he sneezed producing a huge gust of wind which caught Asuna full on in the face.

Immediately her blouse was torn open and blown into the air with her skirt doing like wise, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. She had stopped in mid sentence when this had happened and had just opened her mouth in surprise. Looking down she saw that this Negi person was determinedly looking up at the sky. Pushing herself off of him she immediately let out a shriek that was even heard over at the boys dormitories. Negi had to cover his ears from this ear splitting racket but caught a glimpse of her semi-nakedness which immediately sent a blush over his face.

Asuna noticed and proceeded to kill him when Konoka grabbed her by the wrist.

"Don't take it out on him Asuna, its not like it was his fault or anything." Negi felt fearfully inside of himself, 'And it sure is a good thing that she doesn't know that it was my fault.'

Negi now got up in a sitting position with his head turned the other way to give the girl, called Asuna, a little bit of decency.

Asuna however had started sobbing slightly, "Ah what do I do. I can't let anybody especially Takahata-sensei see me like this. My life will be ruined. And I can't go back to the dormitories or some boys might see me."

Negi now had stood up to his full height and was still looking determinedly away. 'What was it my step mother said, always portray myself as an English gentlemen.' He sighed, 'Guess I have to do just that.'

Shrugging of his long tan cloak that he had been wearing he quickly looked in Asuna's direction before tossing it over her head.

She felt it fall around her but didn't think anything about it before Konoka let out an audible gasp. Lifting her head slightly so as to peek out from under the cloak which was slightly bigger than herself she saw the young boy was walking away with his bag slung over his shoulder. Asuna now saw that without the cloak draped over himself, he was wearing a white dress shirt and what appeared to be black slacks.

She quickly opened her mouth to say something but saw that he just waved his hand in the air as if to say, "Don't worry, just give it back to me later."

Asuna closed her mouth slowly and simply wrapped the cloak a little tighter around herself. Konoka noticed this and simply smirked at her friend, "I'll tell the teacher that you'll be a little late Asuna."

She simply nodded and turned to go back to the dormitories to change.

* * *

Negi was doing his best to not think of the events which had just happened. He was extremely embarrassed to have seen that girl; 'Asuna I think her name was,' practically naked. He sighed hoping that it would be the only incident where he saw a girl have naked. Some of his experiences with his childhood friend Anya were bad enough.

He was supposed to talk to the headmaster of the school first before he walked down to his class. His grandfather at his school had said that the headmaster at Mahora Academy knew what Negi was doing there and to talk to him first before he went to his first class. Well, that was what he was doing.

Arriving outside the headmasters office he knocked quietly and heard a voice announcing him to come in. Sitting on a sofa in the middle of the room was Takamichi. Negi now noticed that the headmaster or dean was standing behind his desk. Negi knew that a first impression was important, so ignoring Takamichi for now he walked up to the dean and bowed before him. The dean bowed back and held out his hand.

"I am Konoemon Konoe. I've heard much about you from your grandfather, young Negi-kun." Negi couldn't help it he smiled at the complement.

"Now then I know what the real reason you are here so I won't worry about going into detail right now. You know full well what it is that we are expecting out of you, correct."

"Yes, sir."

"And you also know the consequences of failing at your duties as a teacher or revealing to anyone about your true nature."

Negi swallowed hard remembering what the consequences where. "Yes, sir."

"Good," said the dean clapping his hands together. "Now that thats out of the way I know Takamichi has some things he wants to discuss with you."

Finally Negi turned to Takamichi and smiled at him, "Your getting old, Takamichi."

He simply laughed and said, "Maybe but I can still beat you in a duel, like old times."

"I don't know, I've improved a lot since we last fought. Its been what five years now."

"Yeah and I can see that you've grown not just in your magical abilities but also physically. Before you couldn't handle hand to hand combat, though now it looks like you could hold your own."

Negi smirked not wanting to say a lot of his physical powers came from his enhanced magic.

"Well Negi I've got something a want to give you since I was the old teacher of class 2-A and seeing as how you'll be the new one."

He handed Negi a slim notebook. When Negi opened he saw that the entire class roster was detailed before him including their number and what clubs they where in. Negi scanned it briefly before putting it away. "Thanks Takamichi this should prove helpful."

"No problem Negi," then he added, "Your gonna need all the help you can get." With that he left the room leaving Negi in a shocked silence.

"Negi one more thing I want to add."

Negi wheeled around to see the dean talking to him. "Yes, sir."

"It is about where you will be staying. I hope you won't mind bunking with two girls. We currently don't have any space to accommodate any new teachers."

Negi would have almost preferred sleeping outside or staying with Takamichi but sighed in defeat.

"Now then the two that you will be sharing a room with Konoka Konoe and her roommate Asuna Kagurazaka."

Negi starred back in disbelief. The two girls from early where going to be his roommates. He didn't think he'd last the night. He was also a little afraid of Asuna. She had a serious temper.

"Well Negi that is all so I'll have Shizuna here escort you now down to your class."

Negi turned around and saw a blue haired woman walking toward him with a smile on her face. Come one Negi class has already started and I think that everyone is starting to get anxious.

* * *

Several minutes later Negi found himself standing outside the room to his soon to be new class 2-A. From the sound of things they were starting to think their teacher skipped out on them. Turning to Shizuna he asked the question that had been bothering him, "How hard are they to handle." He was thinking about this based on Asuna's demeanor.

"I assure you that their are some rowdy ones in this class but for the most part they are able to be kept under control." She gave him a small smile which he returned, it felt like his jaw wasn't responding very well. Sighing knowing that after this things would change drastically he flung open the door and took his first step into the class room.

He immediately noticed two things when he stepped in. One an eraser had dislodged itself from above the door and was falling down about to hit his head. Second their was a thin piece of twine that was just level with his ankle. Smirking slightly he took a step back, held out his hand, and caught the eraser as it came down. Stepping over the thin twine he walked to the desk and set the eraser before turning to his new class.

Everyone was looking back at him with surprise on their faces. A few girls he noticed had started whispering to their friends. He looked over at Shizuna for support but saw that she had already left. Returning to face his class he took a deep breath and said, "My name is Negi Springfield and from here until March I will be your new English teacher."

After this pronouncement almost every single girl surged to the front of the room and stood several feet in front of him, making him wanting to take a few steps back.

"Hey, Hey how old are you," asked a girl with blonde hair.

Negi should have known this would have happened since he was their same age and just decided to get all these questions out of the way.

"I'm fifteen years old, well fifteen in a half I guess."

"Hey, have you ever had a girl friend," asked a girl so small he couldn't see her over the heads of everyone else. Negi almost felt like laughing but held himself back. "No I haven't, and I don't think I'm planning on finding one while I'm here."

This made several girls look crestfallen. Glad that he had gotten that out of the way he turned to go to his desk but heard a rather contemptuous voice address him.

"This is a joke right, how can someone the same age as us be a teacher."

Negi looked around and saw that the girl who had asked this was scowling at him obviously not happy about the current teacher. She had pink or orange hair, it was hard for him to tell, and glasses that seemed to hide a rather cute face. Or at least Negi thought.

"I have a master's in the English language which I received from a university in Wales."

"Whales?" asked a girl with long black hair with two random strands that stuck up at the top of her head. "Where is that located?"

Negi laughed against his will, "Not Whales, Wales, its located at the southern end of England."

They all continued to stare at him for a while before launching more questions at him. Negi's head was starting to feel dizzy. Suddenly he felt someone grab his arm and spin him around, 'Wonderful their already getting used to physically touching me. Next thing you know they'll be-'

But he was frozen in mid sentence when he was looking back into the familiar face of Asuna Kagurazaka. Negi mouthed like a fish out of water unable to say anything. Asuna however was smirking at him slightly. "Don't tell me that your going to be our teacher, you hentai."

All the girls around gasped at this accusation from Asuna. Negi however wasn't about to let her get him riled up and fired back, "From what I remember you where the one that took forever to get off of me, and I wasn't even looking at you."

"What was that you baka." She had grabbed the front of his shirt and was now giving him a death glare. Negi simply glared back before answering, "What are you doing to your teacher."

"This," and she gave him a good bonk on the head.

Negi was rather surprised that she had hit him, and was even more surprised that it had hurt him. She shouldn't have been able to hit him that hard since he always kept a magical barrier up around himself preventing regular humans from being able to hit him and make it hurt. He now looked back at her rather curiously. 'Damn,' he thought suddenly. 'I've still got to tell her that I'm supposed to be living in the same room with her and Konoka.' At this time though the blond who had asked him his age came to his defenses.

"What are you doing calling Mr. Negi-sensei a hentai, and hitting him on the head you monkey, Asuna?"

"What was that iincho," said Asuna?

"You heard me monkey I told you to stop picking on Negi-sensei," she said turning to Negi. "Negi-sensei if their is anything you ever need don't hesitate to ask from me Ayaka Yukihiro."

"Umm thanks, Ayaka-san."

"Suck up," whispered Asuna.

"Oh Takahata-sensei hello their."

This comment made Asuna spin around so quickly that her hair wiped Negi across the face.

"What Takahata-sensei, where is he."

"Awfully in love with old men aren't you Asuna."

Asuna spun back around hitting Negi in the face again with her hair. This time though she lunged herself at Ayaka pinning her to the floor. Negi noticed that this must be a regular event because the other girls started to place bets on the two. Though he had enough of this and wanted to get on with today's lesson. Walking over to the two of them where they had started to pull each others hair he put one hand on the back of each of their heads and softly knocked their two heads together.

They both looked back at him rather surprised. Ayaka just looked stunned, but Asuna was obviously showing signs of hatred. Negi would worry about that later.

"Enough fighting you two. Kindly walk back to your desk so that I can start your first lesson."

Ayaka walked back obediently but Asuna continued to stare at him. "Kagurazaka," asked Negi questionably? Finally she turned and walked back to her desk but not before giving him one final scowl.

The rest of the class period consisted of Negi going over his rules and some of the curriculum that he would be covering with them.

* * *

Finally when class was over Negi breathed a sigh of relief and was leaning back in his chair. 'For the most part a lot of them are smart but...' He looked down at the roll book that Takamichi had given him. It had a few comments about some of the students but overall it was blank. He would have to fill stuff in for his own references as he learned more about them. Suddenly he heard a slight coughing and looked up to see Asuna standing in front of him hold out his cloak.

"I'm returning this to you now."

Negi had momentarily forgotten about it but now took it back without question. It was a bit weird for the two of them since this morning. Though Negi realized it would be even weirder if he ever got around to asking her and Konoka if it would be all right for him to stay in their room.

Asuna now turned around and walked back but paused at the door, "Thanks....for letting me borrow it."

Negi continued to look down at the roll book but answered, "Yeah, no problem."

* * *

After all of his work was done Negi decided to get some fresh air. Walking along the school grounds he noticed just how many girls actually lived here. It made him slightly uncomfortable.

Finding a suitable spot to relax he sat down and stretched out on the grass. 'If only my students could see me now,' he thought. 'I'm rather lax when no ones around.'

He now took out the roll book and was skimming over everyones names and what club they where in. He was rather surprised that Asuna was in the art club. He couldn't see her holding a paint brush and drawing something, well, artful. Looking at some of the other names he paused on Konoka's seeing that she had the last name as the dean. He didn't think it was a coincidence so figured that he should ask her about that later when he sensed somebody close to him.

Looking up he saw a girl that looked strangely familiar holding a large stack of books that seemed to be wobbling rather shakily. He looked down at the roll book and realized that the girl was Nodoka Miyazaki. He also saw that she was in the library club which explained the teetering tower of books. They made him slightly nervous.

As she got closer to the stairs that would bring her down to where he was he saw that she lost her footing, and tripped over the side. It was at least forty feet down and she was falling head first.

Immediately Negi's reflexes kicked in. He wasn't known as a genius magician for nothing. 'Damn it,' he thought though. 'The only way to save her was by risking a bit of magic.' Forgetting about his oath for a minute he quickly grabbed a long wooden staff that had been perturbing out of his bag. Twirling it in his hand like a propeller he flung it at the concrete wall that she was falling down. Tossing a bit of wind magic into his staff he turned it into a speeding bullet which made it strike the concrete, sticking there.

Adding a bit of wind magic to himself of which he was so expertly inclined to he pushed off with his right foot and dashed towards the staff that was now an excellent foot hold. Negi momentarily forgot about the predicament that he was in. As he dashed towards Nodoka who was getting closer to the ground he felt that sensation that only wind magic gave to you. It was a feeling of lightness that drug users could have explained in more detail. Pulling himself back to his senses he focused on the task at hand. When he got close enough to the staff he jumped up in the air soaring higher then the best basketball player aiming to dunk the ball and planted his feet on his staff just in time to catch Nodoka.

He looked down at her and saw that she had passed out from the fall.

Suddenly though he felt his staff give under the weight of the two of them. He must not have put enough wind magic into it. He attempted to correct it but felt it slide out from under him and fell onto the ground stomach first with Nodoka falling on top of him. Thankfully thanks to his magical barrier he was only slightly winded. 'That could have been much worse,' he thought. Though he corrected himself as he saw a shadow standing over him. Turning around quickly he saw that Asuna was standing their with a shocked looked on her face.

"Shit," Negi swore in English of which Asuna couldn't understand.

"You," she stammered. "Wha-what are you."

Without waiting for anybody else to find them he quickly got out from under Nodoka, grabbed Asuna's hand, and dragged her into some nearby trees.

* * *

In the safety of the trees Negi let go of Asuna's hand and quickly sat down with his back against the trunk. Still slightly winded from his fall, and from sprinting over here he relaxed for a moment breathing heavily.

Asuna however was looking at him with somewhere near shock and admiration. In truth she had seen the entire thing as it unfolded and was rather amazed at Negi's daring. Though still extremely confused as to what was going on, or what _he _was for that matter. Finally speaking her mind she asked him, "What are you?"

"A wizard," he managed to blurt out.

It was only then that she realized that he was in pain a little. Her expression immediately softened. "Are you hurt."

He tried to put on a calm face but didn't succeed very well. "I've had worse, compared to those this is more like a bee sting."

For some reason she was relieved that he wasn't hurt and sat down next to him. "So what's a wizard teaching at an all girls boarding school."

"Can't say," was all he managed to say. Now he stood up with a rather determined look in his eyes. Turning to Asuna he said, "Sorry about this but I'm gonna have to erase your memory."

This shocked Asuna and she took a step back from him. "What are yo-"

Though she stopped when she saw that he had his staff pointed out her. "Vanish," was all he said.

Asuna quickly closed her eyes waiting for something to happen though opened them when she suddenly felt cold. She looked at Negi first and saw that his face had turned red and that he had turned away quickly. She looked down and saw that a powerful wind was blowing her skirt up and over her waist. She realized then what he had scene and quickly realized something else.

"It was you from earlier wasn't it. When my clothes flew off."

Negi turned around rather reluctantly and saw that the wind had subsided and that Asuna was glaring at him. 'Why didn't magic seem to work on her? OK yeah it could have been from his exhaustion that he wasn't able to make her memory go away, but what about earlier when she had broken his barrier.' Pushing the matter to the side he slid back down against the tree.

"OK yeah it was me....sorry about that," he added.

"So now that you've succeeded in humiliating me again are you going to tell me why a wizard is doing here."

"Simple," said Negi. "Training."

"Training?"

"Yeah and trust me I didn't beg to get this job."

"Like I'd believe you if you did."

Negi looked away rather hurriedly. The thought of her panties was still clearly etched in his mind. Though now he thought it was a good time to ask something of her.

"Hey Asuna."

"What," she snapped back at him.

"Umm this is gonna sound really awkward but....well...the dean told me that I was supposed to stay with you and Konoka since they don't have enough rooms. So do you care or not."

Asuna starred blankly at him for a moment before laughing maniacally. "You hentai. Theirs no way I'm letting you sleep in the same room with me and Konoka after what happened here. Besides I'm still skeptical about who you really are."

"Whether you believe me or not I'm still your teacher," he said standing up.

"Where are you going," she asked?

He simply shrugged, tossed his cloak around himself and left her standing there by herself.

* * *

Later that night Asuna was trying to sleep in her bed though having difficulties. Konoka had heard from her grandfather that Negi was supposed to be sleeping in their room and was happy to let him, or was until she heard that Asuna had told him no.

"Why aren't you letting him stay with us Asuna? Is it because of this morning."

"Well, thats part of it." She didn't want to mention what the rest of it was.

Though now that she lay in bed she felt guilty for being so harsh with him. Granted he had seen her underwear and practically nude but she couldn't help but remember that he had given her his cloak so that she could go back to the dormitories. Though the fact that he was a wizard was something that she just couldn't wrap her mind around.

'Ahhhhhh,' she screamed in her head. 'I've got to wake up early tomorrow to go to my job. I can't be up all night worrying about him.'

Sitting up she looked over at the clock and saw that it was ten o'clock. 'That baka better not make me miss my job,' she thought as she started to change.

* * *

Negi had wandered around considerably after his confrontation with Asuna. He stopped at a few places thinking that he would spend the night their but always coming to the conclusion that he didn't really like it.

Now though he had decided to spend most of the night sleeping on top of one of the many dormitory roofs. From here he could see the stars. It reminded him slightly of Wales. Without all the lights turned on in the Academy he felt like he was back home with his back sprawled out on the grass. Though of course it was a hard concrete floor which he was laying on. 'Well, I guess things could have been worse,' he thought. 'His blunder about Asuna finding out he was a wizard was a problem, but he didn't think she'd tell anyone. Course who would believe her anyway.'

Suddenly whispering to the night, "Ras tel Mas kil Magister: _Quinque Spīritūs Lūcis Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica-"_*

Though he was stopped short when he heard the sound of the door to the stairway slamming open. Rolling over onto his stomach he saw a very pissed off Asuna striding over to him. Blankness showed all over his face and he simply ignored her, closed his eyes, and rolled back over to face the sky. Though he was rudely awakened when he felt her kicking him in the side and none to gently either.

"What," he asked her.

"What do you mean what, baka. Why are you out here in the middle of the night?"

"I could ask you the very same thing. Besides, your the student I'm the teacher you should be worrying about yourself, not me."

"I wasn't worrying about you baka." Though Negi caught a faint blush that had appeared on her face as she turned away.

"Then if your not worried about me what are you doing here."

Asuna spun around an annoyed look on her face, "I...I-I-"

"Just admit it you were worried," smirked Negi before turning back to the stars.

Asuna ignored him and surprisingly sat down next to him. "So what are you doing here really. I can't imagine this being the most comfortable spot on campus."

"Watching the stars," he said simply.

She raised an eyebrow at him before giggling, which threw him of guard slightly. "What."

"Is this something to do with magic and you being a wizard."

"Well, no, not really. I've always been fascinated by the stars when I was a kid. But learned wizards do try to decipher the future by watching the stars. Personally I can't think of a more boring job."

Asuna frowned at him before laying down next to him and looking up at the stars with him. "Your a lot different outside of the classroom. Inside it you seemed more like a grouchy sixty year old man. Though now you seem completely uncaring."

"I've got to be somewhat strict if I have to deal with you girls. Don't forget I'm the same age as you so if I don't have my own set of rules...well, things might get out of hand."

They both sat their silent for a while before Asuna sat up. She hesitated then said, "Come on baka lets go."

Negi raised an eyebrow at her, "Where to exactly?"

"My dormitory of course you baka. What did you think I ment?"

Negi's blush was all the answer she needed. "God I guess you are the same age as us. Well, come on I'm letting you stay in our dorm."

"So your going to let me stay there."

She sighed before, "Yes. But don't think by doing this that anything changes between us, your still a baka." She paused here though. "But, I do take back about you being a hentai. I was...well..." she was twiddling her fingers unsure of how to continue. "The cloak....and.....well....thanks."

Negi looked back at her with a surprised look on his face. Though passed it off quickly as something of the moment. Now though he walked next to her as they walked back to the dormitory's. Though he felt that he knew what his first comment would be when he started adding stuff to the roll book.

* * *

A/N: So as you can see from the few above lines I plan on having the invocations from Negima in latin and I will have the translation down here. Though if fans want me to stick with just the english I can do that also.

*_Let the 5 Gathering Spirits of Light Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow!_

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* * *

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**I'd help a lot if people would tell me how they want the spells English or Latin. Me personally I like it in latin with the english translation somewhere else. Also I'm gonna say this ahead of time. In chapter 4 (yes I've typed up till their five actually) their is a lot of fighting with spells and I know it can get annoying scrolling down to the bottom of the page to find out what the english translation is. So let me know if you want the english at the bottom of the page or right next to the latin words and I'll fix it before I post four.**


	2. A HeartPounding Experience

**Not much to say about this. Differs from the manga only with the dialogue and a slight scene I put in for humor between Negi and Takamichi.**

* * *

Asuna felt that she had barely laid down to bed before her alarm woke her up signaling the start of her morning job. Cursing slightly that it was all baka Negi's fault that she was so tired she jumped down quickly and was in the middle of changing when she tripped over something that was sprawled on the floor.

Opening her eyes she was only glad that she hadn't woken Negi up since her pajama bottoms where currently half way down her legs. She was looking back into his face and thankfully glad that she hadn't fallen a little closer to his face or they might have kissed. Though now he shifted slightly and his forehead was resting against hers. 'He's actually kinda cute,' she thought suddenly before slapping herself mentally and darting away from him.

'What the hell was that. Did I just think he looked cute.' No, no, no, no,' she thought shaking her head. 'My heart is for Takahata-sensei only. I must have been half asleep when I thought that.' She had a sudden urge to kick him now for what she thought was his fault.

Shrugging it off she changed quickly while being sure to step over him. Grabbing a quick bite to eat she walked out the door.

* * *

Negi woke up several hours later to the smell of Konoka's cooking. Sitting bolt upright with his stomach growling he looked over at the kitchen to see Konoka with a white apron busying herself around the kitchen. Pushing himself off of the floor he walked over at sat at the kitchen counter. Apparently she hadn't noticed that he was sitting there so he spoke up, "You seem to be a really good cook Konoka-san."

This made her jump slightly and blush at the same time. Turning around she smiled at Negi. "Oh Negi-sensei flattery will get you no where. By the way do you care if I call you Negi-kun while where not in class?"

"Not at all," replied Negi.

Konoka smiled as she put a plate of food in front of Negi. It tasted really good. Chewing it slowly so as to savor it he asked Konoka a question that he had been meaning to ask her since he had arrived here. "Konoka-san are you related to the dean by any chance."

"Hai," said Konoka with her back turned to him. "He's my grandfather."

"Kinda like me," whispered Negi.

"Hmmm."

"Oh nothing, its just that, at my school the headmaster also happened to be my grandfather. So I know it can be a bit awkward knowing the person in charge of the school is related to you."

"Yes it can be frustrating sometimes, but I have people like Asuna to help me out, so its all good."

Just then Negi realized that Asuna wasn't with them. "Hey Konoka-san where is Asuna-san. She didn't go off to school already." He really didn't think so. From what he noticed she would have preferred to sleep in and not go to school.

"No she left about two hours ago to go to her morning job."

This made Negi choke slightly on the tea that he was currently sipping. "What, she has a job at her age."

"Yeah," was all Konoka decided to say. Negi felt that it would be better to ask Asuna in person about it.

"Well, Negi-kun shouldn't we be heading to school about now."

"Err shouldn't we wait for Asuna-san?"

"Oh no its fine, she'll show up. Her sense of time isn't that bad."

Negi simply smirked and said, "If you say so."

* * *

When they had gotten to school Negi waved Konoka off to class saying that he had something that he wanted to take care of.

He was heading to the faculty room to have a quick talk with Takamichi. Negi figured that he would want to hear about his first day at teaching yesterday. If yesterday was a suggestion of what his first day was like, he hated to know what the rest of the semester would be like.

Walking into the faculty room he saw that Takamichi was sitting on the couch drinking some early morning coffee. Negi never cared for it, being English and always sticking to tea.

"So Negi how was your first day of teaching yesterday."

"I don't know if there is any one word to sum it up. Chaotic I guess would be as close as it got." He didn't feel like going into his blunder about revealing he was a mage.

"Well, don't get stressed out to much. I'm sure that you'll get used to them all eventually."

'As if I could, when half the class are simply starring at me,' he thought.

Negi leaned back against the couch. He still had a few more minutes before he had to head to class and would have liked to just fall asleep their, but knew better.

"By they way Negi theirs something that I forgot to mention to you. I used to give quiz's to the girls with the lowest grades in the class. Just to be sure that they were following the material. I think its a good idea for you to continue on with that. Here's the list of the top five worst grades from last semester. I don't think its changed at all."

Negi glanced down at the names and was unsurprised to see Asuna's name marked on their. He didn't think she seemed all that smart. Smirking slightly he looked up at Takamichi, "Thanks this should prove useful."

"No problem Negi."

Negi looked back at the clock now made to stand up but Takamichi grabbed his hand.

"One last thing Negi. Your...um situation with Asuna yesterday morning."

Negi who was just finishing the last of his tea spit the rest of it out spraying it all along the table.

"What about it," he nearly shouted.

"I'm just curious as to whether or not that was an accident or not."

Negi looked back blankly. "Of course it was an accident. I had only met her yesterday morning....what are you implying anyway," he asked glaring at Takamichi.

Takamichi smirked at him, "Just that the possibility of you two going out seems very real. You seem to have similar persona-"

"Watch it old man," said Negi in a deadly voice.

Takamichi looked back surprised. "Its been a while since you called me that Negi. Or are you looking for a fight?" He said this as he stood up and put his cigarette in the ash tray in front of him.

"Only if you think your ready to get your butt handed to you, you old man," said Negi as he fished his staff out from his bag and pointed it at him.

"Big words coming from someone who hasn't beaten me once in all the times we've fought," replied Takamichi as a strong bluish glow appeared in his right hand while a faint yellowish glow appeared in his left hand.

"Don't expect to win this time Takamichi," said Negi as he took a battle stance.

Both of them looked at each other ready to fight when both yelled out.

"KANKAHO," yelled Takamichi clapping his two hands together.

"RASTEL MASKIL MAGISTER, SAGITTA MAGICA-" yelled Negi before he was interrupted

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE OF SCHOOL HOURS," yelled Konoka's grandfather at them.

They both turned to look at the door when they both were hit in the face by a lightening spell. Slightly paralyzing the two they both looked up, dazed to see the dean fuming over at what had almost happened.

"BLATANT MAGIC IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. I SHOULD HAVE THE BOTH OF YOU TURNED INTO ERMINES RIGHT NOW. I DONT CARE IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT EACH OTHER TO A BLOODY PULP OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL BUT CERTAINLY NOT ON SCHOOL GROUNDS."

'Who's he to talk about misuse of magic. Didn't he just cast a lightening spell at us,' thought Negi.

Negi now stood up and bowed before the dean saying that it was a very childish thing for him to do and walked to class.

* * *

Negi walked into his 2-A class still slightly dazed from the electricity that had just recently surged through his body and flopped down in his teachers chair.

"Negi-sensei?" Negi looked up and saw that half the class had gathered around him with worried expression's on their face. "Is something wrong Negi-sensei," repeated Ayaka.

Negi gave her a small smile which sent a shiver down her spine. "No I'm fine Ayaka-san, everyone." He saw that Asuna was one of the few that hadn't rushed up to his desk and that she was looking determinedly out the window. Pulling his gaze away from her he addressed the entire class.

"OK class I think its best for me to find out what level of English your currently at so I want you all to turn to page fifty in your text books. I'm just gonna read out a famous play from William Shakespeare and I want you to follow along and answer the question _in English _when I'm done speaking."

It took Negi a little over half the class period to read over part of Macbeth. Most of the class were able to answer the questions that he posed for them, with a few mispronounced words here and there. Ayaka seemed to answer her question with relish and even attempted to act out an English accident. Even though she failed at the English accent part she easily managed to pronounce each word correctly. When Negi complemented her on it it sent a shiver down her spine which also made Asuna scowl at the two of them.

Finally Negi had made it through most of the class and now looked again at the piece of paper Takamichi had given him about the five dumbest girls in the class. Sighing slightly he looked around and decided that he would choose Asuna, only because it was she that he knew the best out of the five.

"Asuna-san tell me what each of the three witches hails Macbeth as when they first meet him."

"Why are you asking me this baka Negi?"

"Well, for starters I've asked almost everyone in the class so I was bound to ask you eventually."

"You can forget about it," she said crossing her arms. "I'm not gonna answer it."

"Admit it Asuna-san you don't want to answer it because you can't," spoke up Ayaka.

"Yeah the only thing Asuna-san is good at is physical activity," spoke up student #16 Makie Sasaki.

"And what's bad about keeping physically fit Makie-san," said Asuna. "Its not like your any smarter than I'm anyway."

"Just admit it Asuna-san the only thing that you're good at is physical stuff. I'm still surprised that your even in the art club still."

Asuna flashed the most dangerous look that she could muster. But Negi thought he saw that Ayaka's comment had slightly hurt her. Sighing slightly he addressed Asuna. "Asuna-san if you don't want to answer it you don't have to. But this is more for your benefit than mine really."

Asuna looked back at Negi with a determined look on her face. "Fine you baka, I'll answer your question." Thinking for a minute about the question and what she could remember of the story she answered it as best as she could.

"Ummm....lets see. The first which said Sane of Glandis. The second which said Blande of Cwador, and the third witch said...um....bee kind afterhere."

Well, Negi hadn't expected a whole lot better, but at least she tried. It was supposed to be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and be king hereafter. He had no idea how she had come up with last part. All in all it wasn't the best demonstration of her knowledge of the English language, but he didn't want her to feel bad about it, being her teacher. Ayaka however had decided to rub it in her face since she knew what it was supposed to be.

"I don't think that I've seen a more sad attempt at a translation from Japanese to English, Asuna-san. But what else can you expect from a monkey."

Asuna had stood up in anger and was about to walk over to Ayaka's desk when Negi interrupted the two of them. "Asuna-san, Ayaka-san thats quite enough. And Ayaka-san could you refrain from picking on other students its not the nicest thing to do."

Ayaka stood there in complete shock but was even more shocked when Negi turned to Asuna, "Nice try Asuna-san. As long as you were trying your hardest then thats what counts now..."

And the rest of the class consisted of them writing down notes.

* * *

When class was over Negi was to be found sitting at his desk and looking at the five girls who were considered the dumbest in the class. Yue Ayase, Makie Sasaki, Ku Fei, Kaede Nagase, and of course Asuna Kagurazaka who had decided to remain seated.

"Now then," said Negi. "It has come to my attention that you five have the lowest grades in the class. So every week I'll be having you do a short quiz just to see how you girls are doing with the material."

He handed the papers out to the five of them and waited at his desk for them to finish. Surprisingly shortly after handing out the papers Yue walked calmly up to Negi's desk and handed him her quiz. He looked down and was surprised that she had scored a nine on her first try. 'Why does she have a low grade if she got almost a perfect score?' His question was almost answered immediately when he heard the classroom door slide open and Yue's friends Nodoka and Haruna Saotome walk in.

"That was quick Yue," said Nodoka.

"If you actually tried you'd get a better grade," said Haruna.

Yue simply shrugged and said that she hated studying.

Shortly afterwards Kaede, Makie, and Ku Fei walked up to his desk. 'Five, five and four. Well they need a six to at least pass,' he thought. Looking over at Asuna he saw that she was scribbling furiously on her paper. 'Guess I'll have to go over the material again with them.'

A short while later Kaede and Ku Fei both got an eight and Makie managed to scrape by with a six.

"See Makie-san you can get a good grade if you try."

"Thats only because Negi-kun is such a good teacher." Standing on her tip toes she gave him a brief peck on the cheek which surprised him.

After Makie left Negi averted his attention to Asuna. Walking over to her desk while slightly rubbing the spot where Makie had kissed him he sat on the desk next to her and asked, "Need any help?"

She turned and simply scowled at him before continue to write on her paper. Sighing in defeat he walked back to his desk and waited for her to finish.

Ten minutes later she came up to his desk and handed the paper to him. He took it and graded it quickly, owing to the fact that she had gotten a one. She hung her head slightly at the grade that she got and turned to leave when Negi said, "If you need help you can just ask you know."

This for some reason pissed her off and she wheeled around and grabbed the front his shirt. "What was that you baka? Are you taking pity on me?"

"As you teacher I feel it my duty to help you when your having difficulties. Call it pity or what ever you want."

Asuna was about to retort when the classroom door swung open, "Negi I wanted to talk about something to you...Oh."

Asuna turned around at the familiarness of the voice only to see Takamichi standing there with a blank look on his face.

"AHHHH Takahata-sensei," stammered Asuna. "This isn't what it looks like. He was just helping me with homework."

Takamichi however had put a hand over his face and merely said, "If you guys are going to do that at least do it somewhere where other people wont walk in on you. Negi I'll ask you about my question later."

He left leaving the two of them in an awkward silence. Negi had a strong suspicion that he had walked in on the two of them on purpose for payback about early that day. Though he wasn't able to brood over this because Asuna had pushed him away from her and ran out of the classroom screaming something about being embarrassed past the point of no return.

Negi wasn't sure what made him do it but he ran after her wanting to make sure that she didn't do anything stupid. Though she was way to fast for him even with him using the wind to make him run faster. Calling his staff he leapt up onto it and flew after her completely ignoring the fact that it was mid afternoon.

* * *

After a long chase both of them were to be found lying in the grass in the old football stadium. Breathing rather heavily the both had their backs propped up against one of the goal posts and where facing away from each other.

"Damn your fast," Negi finally said.

"Thats what being fit does to you."

'And your body,' thought Negi suddenly but immediately slapped himself mentally for thinking that. 'Not a chance hormones.'

"Why where you so determinedly chasing me though," asked Asuna.

"Thats obvious, your my student. I probably worry about you more than you worry about yourself sometimes."

"You don't know how perverted that sounds, do you?"

It took Negi a minute to realize what he said, but then the both of them were rolling on the grass laughing. They both sat laughing their for a good minute before gaining control of their laughter.

Asuna looked over at Negi who was smiling and gazing off towards the stands. It was amazing how much of a different person he was when he wasn't in the classroom. It made her wish that he could be like this all the time.

Pushing herself of the grass she told him, "We should probably head back. Konoka will be starting to get suspicious. Negi took her meaning the correct way and made to get up when Asuna held out her out to pull him up. He took it rather surprised and once again realized how strong she was. Letting go extremely quickly though of each others hands they walked back to the dormitories together.

* * *

"Konoka where back," said Asuna as she and Negi walked into the dormitory. They where both greeted by silence and Asuna realized that she was doing something with the library exploration

"Looks like Konoka is still at library island then."

"Uhh," said Negi.

"What's that supposed to mean? Do you hate being around me that much that you need Konoka around to brighten up the mood," snapped Asuna

"You brighten it up enough as it is. Konoka on the other hand...well...she brightens it up to much to the point where it becomes intoxicating."

"And what does that mean," snapped Asuna again.

Negi realized that he was going from bad to worse and just decided to lie, "It becomes annoying after a while."

Negi now flopped himself down on the couch and stretched out before closing his eyes. Asuna smirked back at him and sat down at the desk next to him. "You should act like this in class more."

Negi opened one eye to look at her before closing it again. "Yeah, right. And have the other girls starring at me with even more affection, not a chance. I'm your girls teacher which means I'm not allowed to have anything other than a professional relationship."

"I'm sure iincho would love you even more that she already does."

Negi just groaned at the word love knowing that it had a good chance of being true.

Negi felt like sleeping and was soon drifting off when he felt something tickling his noes. He quickly opened his eyes to see that Asuna was standing over him with her face very close to his own. Immediately pinching his noes so as not to let passed events happen again he asked her, "Any reason why you look like your trying to kiss me."

Asuna shot back at him, "Yeah right like I'd ever try that. Its just that I can smell you from across the room. When was the last day that you had a bath?"

For some reason Negi blushed and muttered something about not since he had arrived in Japan.

"What you haven't had one since you arrived, thats disgusting. Come on where going to the baths whether I have to drag you there or not."

"What, no Asuna-san its an all girls bath I can't use them."

"Yes you can, no one will be their this time of the day now hurry up and grab some swimming trunks."

Negi simply groaned and followed her instructions.

* * *

Several minutes later Negi came out of the changing room of the girls bathhouse only to find Asuna waiting their for him in a one piece white bathing suit holding a bar of soap and a shampoo bottle.

"Get over here," she said.

"I can wash myself."

"For some reason I don't trust you."

"Whether you trust me or not I'm your teacher and something like this is awkward enough without you washing my hair for me."

"Oh can it baka Negi," she said as she gave him a little push in the butt with her foot sending him into the water. Tossing the soap and the shampoo in the water she jumped in and had to swim around trying to catch him.

"BAKA NEGI GET BACK HERE."

"AHH LEAVE ME ALONE ASUNA-SAN. I CAN WASH MYSELF."

Finally Asuna caught him and held him under the water before he promised that he wouldn't run away. Sitting on a stool Negi reluctantly let Asuna wash his hair. Though he absolutely refused to let her wash his body.

Now that he was sitting still Asuna got her first good look at his semi-naked body. On the outside with his neat slacks and dress shirts nobody would have guessed that he had a decently muscled body underneath. Now though she saw that his skinny body was surprisingly built up a little. She paused several times to look at his biceps and triceps wondering how strong he was if he wanted to actually fight. Then though she was brought out of her train of thought by his question.

"Hey Asuna-san I've been meaning to ask you."

"Hmmm."

"How come you have a job at your age. For one I can't picture you to be the hard working type."

She scowled at him and rubbed the shampoo into his head a little hard making him say, "Ouch." Calming down a little she said, "Its because I don't have any parents. Though Konoka's grandfather has taken care of me ever since I came to Mahora. Even though he says that I don't have to pay him back for everything that he's done for me I still have my paper route that I go to every day. I don't want to feel like I'm getting special treatment or anything."

"Is that why you wake up early every morning?"

"Yeah."

Negi sat their for a while before sighing and turning around to face her. "Looks like I was a bit wrong about you Asuna-san. When I first met you you seemed like an angry girl that blew up in peoples faces whenever they didn't get something what they wanted. Though I see now how wrong I was, and I'm sorry. Truth is, I think you're one of the strongest people I've met."

He then gave her a small smile which sent a blush over her face. Turning around quickly so that he wouldn't see it she thought, 'Ah why I'm a blushing. OK he complemented me and all and that was nice of him...thinking that I'm strong...but....but....AHHH WHY AM I BLUSHING.'

Turning defensive she quickly responded to pounding him on the head. "Baka Negi. If you thought that I was a spoiled brat you should see iincho. She lives in a mansion."

Both of them started laughing after this.

Negi however was thinking about something. "You know Asuna-san were alike in some ways."

Asuna had stopped laughing at him and was frowning now. "How unfortunate."

"No I mean...I don't have parents either. Well, I don't know whether their alive or dead I guess. I was brought up by my best friend, Anya's parents and while they where nice to me I never knew who my real parents where."

"Negi...." Was all Asuna managed to say.

"Though I don't think my dad is dead at least. When I was seven I was much like I am when I'm with you and Konoka, not caring. I didn't want to be a wizard and I never knew how to interact with kids my age. Though one night demons attacked my village and burned a lot of it, killing many people that I had known for a long time."

Asuna was profoundly silent while he spoke.

"...At one point I was cornered by a band of demons and I thought that I was about to die when I saw a bright light behind them. Suddenly they vanished and their was a man standing in front of me looking down at me. I remember his words only to clearly. 'So your Negi huh. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be more of a father figure to you. Though I promise one day that we will meet again, when you become like me' Well, with that he disappeared leaving nothing but his staff and cloak behind him."

Asuna was now looking at him with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"After that incident I took up residence at the Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales. I wanted to be just like my father, a Magister Magi. I hoped that by becoming one I would be able to travel the word helping people and also searching for him. Thats what my training here is for, to help me become a Magister Magi."

"So then that staff and cloak that you have right now," said Asuna with tears starting to stream down her face."

"Hai, its the same as the two that he left me. Its the only thing that I have to remind me of him. Well, other than the fact that he's famous in the magical world as the Thousand Master, so their are statues of him placed at locations in the old world and new world."

Asuna didn't understand any of this old world new world stuff but remembered something. "Why did you let me borrow your cloak then if it was such a treasured possession of yours?"

Negi looked over at her and was surprised to see that she was doing her best to hold back tears. "I don't know, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Though it seemed like you where someone I could trust, I guess."

This was to much for Asuna, closing the distance between them in a few strides she tackled Negi to the floor and started to hug him, while crying. Negi however was so shocked that he didn't even realize that he now had a large bump on his head. "Asu-na-san."

"Negi no baka. Baka, baka, baka, baka. If I didn't know better I'd assume you made that story up just to get me to start crying. But your not like that. And I usually got sympathy from people for being an orphan. But your....just.....just....AHHH baka look at what your making me do."

Negi wasn't sure how to handle a situation like this and continued looking up at the ceiling with a slight blush on his face. Finally taking control of the situation he grabbed Asuna's shoulders and pushed her off of himself gently, and into a sitting position. Propping himself up on his elbows he said, "Its not all that bad really. I've had Anya and her parents and I've had my grandfather to look after me. Also now, I've got you and Konoka and the rest of class 2-A so that more than makes up for everything." Negi gave Asuna another smile which made her blush an even deeper crimson than last time.

They both looked out across the bathhouse for a while until they heard loud voices approaching. Asuna looked up in alarm and swore loudly which surprised Negi. "Damn nobody ever comes at this hour. Come on Negi if where seen together like this people will start to have suspicions."

Only to aware what those suspicions would be they both jumped into the pool just in time before the doors to the changing rooms where thrown open.

Unfortunately for Negi his entire 2-A class walked in with nothing except for the towels that they had wrapped around their bodies. Negi felt as though all the blood in his body had just rushed to his head and felt as though it would start dripping out of his ears and noes. It was bad enough that Asuna's body was pressed up against his so that he could feel every curve of her body.

Negi's attention now was diverted when he heard his name spoken from some of the girls that were currently washing themselves.

"Hey Konoka," asked Haruna. "What is it like sharing a room with Negi-kun."

Konoka was about to answer when Ayaka pounced on top of Haruna. "Wh-Wh-WHAT, Negi-sensei is sharing a room with that monkey Asuna."

Negi could feel Asuna burning up with anger behind him. It wasn't helping the situation any better that he was stuck in.

"Hai, iincho-san. My grandfather approved of Negi-kun staying with us," replied Konoka.

"Bu-bu-but," then suddenly Ayaka's eyes gave off a flash of inspiration. "So Konoka have you ever seen Negi-sensei without his shirt on?"

From what Negi could see Konoka blushed a little bit and started scratching the back of her head. All the other girls were starring at her waiting for her to reply. "Well, no," stammered Konoka still scratching her head nervously. "He always changes in the bathroom so...no I haven't seen what he looks like without his shirt on."

Ayaka and the others looked dejected. "Ahh I wonder how big his muscles are," said Makie.

"He probably tries to hide them by wearing those loose dress shirts," said student #2 Yuna Akashi.

Negi was starting to get worried that he would get stuck in the bath until the other girls left and turned to Asuna, or tried to. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary friction between their two bodies so he just turned his head. "Help me get out of here Asuna-san. I'd really rather not be caught in here with all the other girls....not to mention everyone's naked."

Asuna gave him a weird look before she nodded and looked around for a suitable place to escape. Finding one she pointed it out to Negi. "There, the locker rooms its our best chance to get out of here."

Negi looked over and saw where she was pointing. However Nodoka and Yue were close by it. Negi groaned but knew that it was the best option they had. Taking a deep breath he said, "OK lets go," and dove under the water swimming towards the locker rooms with Asuna close behind him.

Everything would have gone smoothly if Kazumi Asakura hadn't been in the bath also. She was in charge of the newspaper club and had an eye for scoops. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw movement in the pool over by the locker room and let out a very audible gasp when she saw two heads appear in the water.

"AHH NEGI-SENSEI, ASUNA-SAN WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING."

Immediately every girl in the bathhouse turned around to look at where Kazumi was pointing. Negi felt that he had frozen in place but was jolted back to reality when he saw that half of his class had dropped their towels and had started to run over to him. Closing his eyes quickly he felt Asuna grab him under the arm pit and attempt to drag him out of the pool.

However Ayaka was determined to see Negi and sprinted ahead of the class. Jumping several feet from where she stood she intended to jump into Negi's chest while pushing Asuna out of the way.

Negi was getting sick of this and decided to take things into his on hands. Breaking free of Asuna's vice like grip over his wrist, he kept his eyes firmly closed and thought, 'Must not look, must not look, must not look.' Sensing that Ayaka's feet had left the ground and was currently soaring towards he timed it perfectly so that she would miss him. Using the wind to find out roughly where she was he quickly stepped to the left as she flew past him.

"Wha-," was all she managed to say before she skidded across the floor and into the pool.

The rest of the class was looking at him with a shocked look on their face. 'This should stop them from doing anything now.' Though next second he heard everyone girl in his class shout KAWAII. Not expecting a reaction like this Negi felt himself froze again. But a voice louder than the others drifted over to him almost shattering his ear drums. "NEGI NO BAKA."

Negi felt Asuna's grip once more as she steered him out of the bathroom with the others girls close behind him saying things like, "Asuna stop hogging him and share him." And others things like. "I didn't think Asuna would betray Takahata-sensei so easily." Which Asuna would respond and scream, "AHH WE ARE NOT GOING OUT."

* * *

After a hectic ten minutes during which he was touched at least once by every girl in his class Negi was to be found laying on the sofa in his, Asuna, and Konoka's room. He had his arm over his face and was breathing heavily and was soaked from a combination of bath water and sweat. He hadn't had time to grab his things in the locker rooms. Now he figured that they were being ripped apart by the girls. Well, at least it was only a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Asuna however was pacing the room with a furious look on her face. "Great now everyones gonna think that were going out. I'm would put it past Kazumi-san to have gotten a picture of us either."

"Its not like this is my fault. Your the one that dragged me in their," retorted Negi.

Asuna threw him a furious look before going into the bathroom to change. Negi let out a sigh and shifted himself to get a little more comfortable. The hallway door opened and then Konoka walked in. Negi quickly threw the blanket over his entire body and pretended that he was asleep.

"Asuna," called out Konoka. "Are you here."

"Hai," said Asuna as she came out of the bathroom dressed in her pajamas. Asuna was about to crawl up to her bunk bed when Konoka put her hand on Asuna's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "So what were you and Negi-kun doing alone in the bathroom."

Asuna jumped out of her skin and turned around quickly to see a laughing Konoka. "Nothing absolutely nothing."

"Does nothing count as being together in the bath together trying to hide from the others?"

"KONOKA!"

Konoka simply laughed at the expression on Asuna's face. "So what did you guys talk about then. You can at least tell me that."

Asuna looked at her for a minute before deciding that the question wasn't offensive. "We just talked about each others family and past, and well....he said that I was strong because I am young yet I work for a living."

"Ahh you two would make a great couple," said Konoka while laughing.

Asuna simply stammered while blushing, "I could never go out with that baka."

"So did you help him wash himself?"

This comment sent Asuna falling over side ways. Standing back up she turned her back on Konoka and said, "What if I did?"

Konoka smiled at the fact that her roommates neck was steadily turning red. "Iincho better not here about this or your dead Konoka," said Asuna.

"Ahh don't want competition Asuna."

"KONOKA."

Konoka simply smiled and crawled into bed. Still fuming over at her roommates questions Asuna climbed into her bed before remembering that Negi was in the room with them. Looking over at the couch she saw that he had the covers tossed over his head. 'He better be sleeping,' she thought before she dropped of to sleep.

Negi however was laying under the blanket and was steadily turning red in the face at what he had just heard. 'I'm her teacher and she's my student...nothing can happen.' With that thought he turned over dreading the following day and dropped off to sleep himself.


	3. His Other Side

**This one is a lot different with regards to the....well lets just say Negi gets more "into" the err...ah just read it.**

* * *

Class the next day was to be expected, after what happened in the bathroom the previous day. Almost every girl was starring and Negi with new enthusiasm the next day which only added to Negi's dilemma. Finally giving up on trying to teach then anything he told them, "Okay look. What happened yesterday was a complete misunderstanding and nothing like that will ever happen again."

However the girls kept on starring back at him. Negi now dropped his normal teacher voice and adopted his normal person, "What, have none of you girl ever seen a guy without his shirt on. Its really not that big of a deal."

All of the girls where shocked at how much of a change had come over his voice. It was oddly relaxed and Asuna and Konoka where the only two that didn't seem surprised by it. Though Asuna was slightly blushing at his comment about everyone never seeing a guy without his shirt on. In truth it was her first time for it too. 'Baka Negi, he took my advice about being a little more relaxed and look how everyone treats him now....ahh why am I worried about that.'

Negi sighed now and looked at the clock glad that class was over. "Well, thats it for today, I expect everyones papers to be done by next week, and no excuses either," he said putting back on his teacher voice, though the girls had seen what his normal personality and loved it. Negi wished now that he hadn't said anything about yesterday.

* * *

While his class was taking their break on the school grounds Negi headed to the teachers lounge and decided to make himself a strong cup of tea. Upon entering it he saw that Takamichi was sitting their reading an article in the newspaper.

Negi smirked and walked over to the tea pot and filled it with boiling water before adding a tea bag and sitting down across from Takamichi. Without looking up from his newspaper Takamichi said, "I heard what happened to you last night. Must have been quite a shock, seeing half your class with nothing but towels on."

Negi winced slightly but retorted back, "I've had similar experiences so I know the best thing is to just shut your eyes." He remembered a similar time when he had accidently walked into the girls locker room at the magic academy and had seen Anya in nothing but her underwear. The resulting beating left several bruises and scars which Negi still carried around.

"So, how do they respect you as a teacher Negi."

"As a teacher...not so much....as someone that they think is cute and would like to go out with, well you can guess."

"Ahh to be young."

"Something that you'll never experience again."

Takamichi raised his eyebrow but said nothing and ruffled his newspaper before going back to reading.

A short while later Negi had fallen asleep in an upright position, he had completely forgotten about the tea. Suddenly he felt himself being shaken awake rather roughly. Opening his eyes slowly he looked around to see Makie standing their with a worried look on her face. "Uhh Makie-san what is it."

Makie was slightly shocked at how different Negi was outside of but said, "Negi-kun their is a fight going on outside. Some high schoolers were harassing me, Ako-san, and Yuna-san. But then Asuna-san was gonna help us out and now she's about to face three high schoolers."

This woke Negi up considerably and he said, "Lead the way Makie-san."

* * *

Negi soon found himself outside the school and running next to Makie. 'Knowing Asuna-san she's already lost her temper and is now pummeling the high schoolers. Though I hope not. She could get expelled for doing something like that.'

When Negi arrived things were starting to heat up. Asuna was standing their with furry all over her face and was just about to draw back her fist when somebody caught a hold of it. She looked around in surprise to see Negi standing their holding her wrist. "Negi," said Asuna in surprise. Negi looked back at her with a frown on his face. "Asuna-san back up for a minute. Resorting to violence is not the smartest thing. You could have been expelled for starters. As your teacher just let me handle this. Asuna nodded and backed up several steps. Addressing the high schoolers Negi asked, "Okay what's going on here."

"Just having a little fun with these babies, who might you be anyway."

"Their teacher," said Negi simply.

The high schoolers simply looked at him for a moment and then all of them pounced on him

"Ahh he is so cute."

"So this is the teenage teacher that we've heard so much about."

"Ahh will you give me your number."

Negi simply ignored their requests and fought his way off of them. "I don't appreciate you high schoolers picking on my students."

One of them frowned at him. "How about you ditch these middle schoolers and come teach us English instead."

Negi smirked at them, "With an attitude like that I'd sooner teach monkeys."

Negi's class and the high schoolers all stood with shock written all over their faces. Even Asuna was shocked at what he had said but she was silently cheering for what he had said.

"What was that," asked the high schoolers shock and anger all over their faces? "How dare you insult us like that."

"I was merely stating the obvious. Truth is I don't know any teachers who'd want to teach a group like you." Negi now turned his back on the high schoolers and intended to walk away though they were mad and one of them drew back her fist and said, "Little punk. Whether your a teacher or not I don't care. Saying something like that is just asking to get hit."

The high schooler swung forward aiming for the side of Negi's face.

Asuna and the rest of 2-A saw this and where both shocked and frightened. Asuna however was the first one to regain her voice and yelled, "NEGI WATCH OUT."

Negi had already anticipated this and simply moved his head slightly to the left so that her punch simply went over her shoulder. Negi sighed slightly and turned to face the girl who had attempted to punch him. "You know your lucky that I'm such a laid back teacher. If I was anybody else you'd be packing your bags right about now. Well, whatever thats enough excitement for one day I suppose." Yawning widely Negi told Asuna. "Asuna-san I'm heading back to the dorm for a nap. I can't get any sleep in the teachers lounge today. Try not to wake me when you get back later."

Asuna and the rest of 2-A starred back at him in shock as he walked away hands over the back of his head. All at once the girls of 2-A started to talk to each other.

"Amazing that was so cool what he did. It didn't even faze him that he almost got hit."

"Thats Negi-kun for you. Well, thats what he's really like completely carefree. Nothing seems to bother him."

"I just think he becomes more and more hotter as the days go by."

"That was really cool of him wasn't it Asuna-san," asked Ako.

"Huh, oh yeah," said Asuna rather distracted. She was shocked that Negi continued to surprise her with his personality. 'Its like a different person that inhabits his body when he's not teaching.'

* * *

The girls continued until their break was over and next was P.E. Everyone was still talking about what Negi was like outside of the classroom.

"Ahh Asuna-san Konoka-san your so lucky that you get to see the real Negi-kun so much."

Asuna sighed, "If you say so. Honestly sometimes his laid back personality gets on my nerves more than when he's teaching."

The other girls where now frowning at her.

"What," asked Asuna.

"Asuna-san don't lie to us," said Makie. "We know that you secretly like him. You just don't want to admit it."

Asuna waved her hands in front of her face while blushing furiously, "No way, I could never like that baka. He's so much different compared to Takahata-sensei. He doesn't even act like an adult for starters."

"I don't know Asuna-san," retorted Yuna. "How he handled those three high schoolers was pretty adult like."

"Even so he's still the same age as we are so that means he's not an adult."

"Just keep denying your feelings for him Asuna-san it will catch up eventually."

"You guys are just stubborn."

They continued to argue the whole way up to the roof where they were supposed to be playing volleyball.

* * *

When they arrived at the roof they were surprised to see a familiar brown and redheaded teacher leaning against the railing while tossing a volleyball up in the air with one hand.

"Negi-sensei," Ayaka said while running over to Negi.

"Huh," Negi looked up, "Hey class."

"Negi-kun how come your up here?"

"Well, your P.E. teacher wasn't feeling very well so I was asked to fill in for him today."

All the girls cheered, "Negi-kun is gonna be are P.E. teacher.

Negi sighed, "Okay clam down girls. Even though I'm not your English teacher right now I'm still a teacher which mean tha-"

"Oh Negi-kun drop the act. At least act like yourself when your not teaching us English. Its not fair that Konoka-san and Asuna-san are the only two to see who you really are."

Negi blinked back in surprise at what Makie had just said. "Err, well, if thats what everyone wants I guess I can make an exception," said Negi while scratching the back of his head

Negi now gave his class a small smile which sent them all into fits of giggles. Though Asuna was standing to one side glaring at Negi. 'Jeez what's up with him. Earlier he was complaining about not being able to sleep. Now he's wide awake and about to watch us play volleyball. If I didn't know better I'd say he was being a bit of a hentai.'

"OK girls I want you to separate yourselves into teams of fifteen. Since we have an odd number of people though one group will have sixteen."

"Hai," they all responded.

Negi was about to blow the whistle to signal the start of the game when the roof door flew open and eleven high schoolers walked out. Three of then were the ones from earlier.

"Ah look what we have here. The kiddies are about to start playing volleyball on our court."

"What the hell do you mean your court," fired up Asuna.

However Negi stepped in between them and gave Asuna a look which she took as, "Back off." If Asuna didn't know any better she would have though that Negi looked a little annoyed at the sudden intrusion. She had never seen him looking so serious before.

"What are you girls doing up here," asked Negi? "This is the middle schoolers time to play volleyball. I thought I already made it clear what I thought about you picking on my students. Now I don't care if you pick on me but if you keep harassing my students I will be sure to mention this to the dean."

The high schoolers stared back in shock at his threat and the students from 2-A where equally just as shocked. Though Asuna thought that Negi was slightly angry.

"This court is plenty big for everyone. Why don't you share."

"Because the high schooler have their own place to play volleyball. Now if you'll kindly leave we can forget about all this."

Negi turned his back on the high schoolers again and this time they didn't hold back. Several of them attempted to jump on top of him pinning him to the ground though he simply dodged out of the way. Then two others tried to grab him around the neck but he bent his body backward as though playing limbo and they tripped over him. Turning around he saw that the one that had tried to punch him early was running straight at him with her fist brought back.

"Lets see how you like it when I'm actually serious you damn baka."

Negi who had his hands in his pocket the entire time now brought them out and held one hand out in front of him, palm outward and calmly blocked her punch. The resounding smack sent a shiver down all of class 2-A's spine. Asuna was however smirking, 'Cheater, he probably used a little bit of magic for some of that dodging and what not.'

Using magic never even crossed Negi's mind. In fact he was having fun. It had been a while since he was able to get exercise like this. And though it was no where near as exhilarating as fighting Takamichi it was oddly relaxing. Also the fact that he seemed to be pissing off the high schoolers was also funny.

The girls who had tried to punch him now stepped back in surprise. "Who the hell are you," she asked.

Negi could barely suppress a smile, "Just your average teacher. Now, if your done with your childish games I've got an idea. Since you seem so intent on taking this court why don't we make a little sporting event out of it.

The high schoolers folded their arms, "I'm listening."

"If you win you get this court and we leave...deal?"

"Fine, though if we win we also get to have you as a teacher."

Negi blinked for a second and looked over at class 2-A. "Are you okay about this girls."

"Don't worry Negi-sensei we won't lose."

"You can count on us Negi-kun."

Negi was proud at the determination that his class showed and turned to face the high schoolers again. "Now the game of choice. We're not going to play volleyball since you have an advantage over us, being taller."

"Fine then how about dodgeball?"

Negi thought about it for a minute before deciding to leave it up to class 2-A. "Your call girls."

They whispered amongst themselves for several minutes before deciding. "OK dodgeball it is."

"Good," said Negi. "Now I want you to each choose team captains for your teams." The girls that had tried to punch Negi stepped forward. On the other side of the court Asuna was being pushed to the front by the other girls.

"I don't want to be captain."

"Ah c'mon Asuna-san. You're easily the most ridiculously strong out of all of us. You be team captain."

"I don't wanna, and don't call me ridiculously strong. If Takahata-sensei were to hear that what would he think of me."

Negi laughed silently and turned to face the high schoolers. "What are you gonna be doing," they asked him?

Negi held up his whistle and said, "Refereeing, though I'll also be considered a player on 2-A's team. Though I won't interfere unless I think its necessary."

"And that means what, exactly."

Negi smirked, "You'll have to find that out for yourselves," and he walked away.

"Damn that guy," whispered one of the high schoolers before they brought their heads together and started to whisper.

* * *

Soon everyone had stepped onto the play field and Negi blew the whistle As soon as it started, right off the bat the high schoolers took possession of the ball.

"Okay girls, lets show these middle schoolers the difference between us."

With that she set her sights on Nodoka who seemed the weakest out of everyone. "Take out the weakest is the first rule in dodgeball." Throwing it as hard as she could it rocketed toward Nodoka. Asuna was the only one that could even see it coming at the speed of it and turned around quickly. "NODOKA WATCH OUT."

Negi took charge of the scene and quickly stepped in front of Nodoka and caught the ball one handed. Even Negi had to admit that the sheer force behind it was something to marvel at. Even Asuna who was amazingly strong couldn't have caught that.

Negi sighed now and frowned up at the high schoolers. "Well, that didn't take long. I assumed that you'd be trying to hit my students as hard as possible. So, as to make sure this doesn't happen again I'm awarding a penalty shot to class 2-A. Girls decide who takes it."

Asuna was chosen to take it. "I do not have baka strength." And dispatched one of the high schoolers easily.

Class 2-A was cheering madly for Asuna. Even Negi was silently cheering for her.

Soon though things started to go bad for 2-A. Even though the high schoolers stopped throwing fast throws all of 2-A was bunched up in one small area which ment that they didn't have a lot of room to move around.

"Asuna-san, why did you agree to playing dodgeball if we were going to lose," said Ayaka.

"Ah shut it iincho." Asuna bit her lip and looked around for something to help them and saw Negi sitting casually on the ground. 'What the hell does he think he's doing. He could get hit by just sitting there.'

Suddenly the ball came flying at Negi's direction.

"Negi-sensei watch out," screamed Ayaka.

Negi however calmly leaned back a little and the ball passed over his head.

Asuna was standing furious at Negi. "Oi baka, if your able to dodge the ball like that then help us."

Negi looked up at Asuna's angry face. In truth he would like to help but didn't think it would be fair for the high schoolers if he joined in. Even without magic he could flatten them in a minute.

"Sorry Asuna-san but I promised the high schoolers that I wouldn't interfere unless I saw a reason to. And so far I haven't seen them do anything unsportsmanlike."

"Ahhhhhhh, baka your no help at all," said Asuna as the dodge ball soared past her and struck Ayaka in the face.

"What about that then baka. Isn't that against the rules," said Asuna pointing at Ayaka's face.

Negi shrugged and said, "She should have dodged it. Then it wouldn't have hit her in the face. It wasn't even thrown hard so why worry."

"I'm not worried about her I'm worried about the fact that-" suddenly Asuna felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw Konoka standing their waving at her.

"Konoka what are you-"

"Ah sorry Asuna-san looks like its just you and Negi, I just got taken out."

"Wha-" Asuna turned around and saw that she was right. While she had been arguing with Negi the rest of the class had been taken out and now it was just her and Negi.

"Negi you baka look what happened because of you being so stubborn."

"It was your fault for arguing with me over something so stupid."

Asuna grabbed Negi and dragged him up by his collar. "Negi, you little-"

"NEGI-SENSEI, ASUNA-SAN STOP ARGUING OVER NOTHING AND PLAY THE GAME."

Negi and Asuna both looked over to see Ayaka yelling at the two of them.

Negi sighed and look at Asuna. "You can put me down now."

Asuna smirked at him and let go. "About time."

"Though I'm not going to be throwing the ball at all. That part is still up to you."

Asuna whispered at him, "C'mon just a little magic and you can finish this up in a second."

Negi raised an eyebrow at her, "That would be considered unsportsmanlike. Besides....I'm having fun whether you are or not."

Asuna gave him good smack. 'Their she goes again ignoring my barrier,' sighed Negi. 'Though I guess I kinda deserved that.'

"Negi you idiot, don't you know what happens if we lose."

"Can't say I care all that much really."

"BUT I DO."

Negi spun around where he sat and looked at Asuna who was steadily turning red in the face. "You want me to stay as your teacher?"

Asuna stammered, "Don't get the wrong idea. Its not just me, everyone wants you to remain our teacher. Besides if I let us loose iincho-san wont let me sleep ever again.'

Negi continued to look back at Asuna now unsure how he felt. Turning around he placed both hands on his knees and pushed himself up. Brushing the dust that had settled on his jeans he turned to Asuna with a smile on his face. "OK lets win this. Though I'm still not throwing the ball. You have enough strength for that without me having to help."

"Baka, I'm not that strong," said Asuna while blushing.

"Say what you want, but you are....though since I'm not going to be throwing the ball I can at least protect you from getting hit by it."

"Pro-tect," whispered Asuna.

Just then the dodgeball was thrown with tremendous speed by one of the high schoolers and it was aimed at Asuna.

Negi calmly stepped in between Asuna and the oncoming dodgeball, stuck out his hand palm out, and caught it easily. Asuna heard the force of it colliding against Negi's hand and felt a small gust of wind pass over her face from the after shock of him catching it.

"Negi..."

"Well, that one would have easily hurt. Even left a red spot on my hand," he said while looking down at it. 'But wow that girl can sure throw a tough fast ball. I even had some trouble catching that one. Though...' Negi glanced over his shoulder to see Asuna standing there, rather worried if it had hurt. 'If Asuna wasn't standing so close to me it probably would have been easier. I've got to remember that she seems to have the ability to cancel magic. But then that means that she would have to known something about magic before.' Negi now shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Focus on the here and now, I'll worry about that later.'

"Asuna-san here," Negi tossed the ball to her. "Show them what middle school girls can do."

"Hmph, you don't have to tell me twice."

Asuna caught the ball that Negi passed to him and set her sights on a girl with short brown hair. Winding up for the throw she tossed with her full baka strength and sent it flying into the girls face, who fell over from the force of it.

"Haha nice one Asuna-san," said Negi as he gave her a high-five.

"What was all that about not throwing the ball hard you stupid teacher," retorted the team captain of the high schoolers.

Negi was about to say something but Asuna cut him off. "Watch what you call Negi you old granny."

"Asuna-san calm down, don't let them get you distracted. Its what they want."

"No Negi, I've had enough of them insulting you. I don't care anymore I'm gonna pummel that stupid high schooler into the ground."

"Fine, fine. But do it in the game and not out of it."

"Whatever."

Asuna turned around just as one of the high schoolers took advantage of her momentary distraction. Throwing it as hard as she could she aimed it at Asuna's back. Negi saw this but knew that Asuna wouldn't be able to react quick enough. 'Kusu, so much for staying out of the game, but that really is cowardice.'

Shifting to his left so that he was now facing Asuna he took two hasty steps so that he was several feet from her.

"Negi what are you-"

But she never got the last words out as Negi linked his left arm with her right arm. Swinging his right arm around he placed it around her waist and lifted her off her feet slightly as he pulled her away from the oncoming ball.

Asuna still hadn't realized what he was doing and was saying, "Negi what are you doing? This is not time to act like a hen-" she felt a soft breeze ruffle her hair and saw something white whiz by her, "-tai."

Negi skidded across the play field as he dodged the ball. Though now he had both arms wrapped around Asuna, securing her to his chest. Asuna had momentarily forgotten about the match and was blushing furiously about being saved by Negi and being held by him.

Negi's attention however was focused solely on the game. The high schoolers had formed a triangle and were now throwing the ball as hard as they could trying to hit Negi. Negi was having to use all his willpower to not let a small bit of magic burst out of him and send the ball hurling back into the high schoolers face. He was genuinely angry now. 'Damn and I can't let go of Asuna, no matter how my better sense is screaming at me to do so. She wont be able to dodge these. Though I may not be able to if this keeps up either.'

Suddenly Negi sensed movement to his left. 'Kusu they got behind me.' He felt a change in the wind as the ball came hurling towards. 'Screw it,' he thought. 'I've got to use some magic.' He started whispering his activation spell but felt something flick him in the forehead. Acting on instinct he duct which sent the ball flying over his head and struck the high schooler on the opposite side.

Looking down he saw that Asuna was frowning at him. "Who was the one that said using magic was unsportsmanlike," whispered Asuna.

"Asuna-san....they...were irritating me. Cowardice is what it is."

"So beat them at their own game and without having to rely on tricks."

Negi would have replied but the ball was coming at him lightning fast again and he swerved out of the way so as to miss it.

Regaining her breath which she had lost moments ago Asuna said, "If you keep on holding me like this where not gonna even get a chance to fight back."

"I know, but if I do then you'll almost certainly get hit."

"Hmph just admit it your enjoying this."

"Can we please not argue about something like that."

"Fine, I've got a plan anyway."

"You of all people thought of a plan."

"Oh shut it baka Negi. Just face the ball when you sense it coming again and leave the rest to me."

Negi did as he was told and found himself facing the captain of the high schoolers tossing the ball up into the air repeatedly.

"So have you two ballerinas finally given up."

Negi and Asuna both ignored her insult. Though Negi could feel Asuna shaking with anger.

"Hmm, seems like you two are pretty close...I know." She pointed to Asuna. "The first thing I'm gonna do when he becomes our new teacher is force him to take me on a date."

Asuna started to shake with anger even more, if that was even possible.

"Calm down Asuna," said Negi. "Their just trying to bother you." Upon telling her this he felt her relax slightly in his arms. It was only during this moment that he was fully aware that he had her in his arms. 'Ah and its been at least two minutes since her feet last touch the ground....wonderful tonight is gonna be hectic.'

The captain of the high schoolers apparently had nothing more to say and wound up for the throw.

Negi wasn't sure what Asuna had planned but heard her sigh softly and said, "This is gonna sound awkward but your gonna want to hold onto me a little tighter in the next few seconds."

"Asuna-san what-" but he fell silent as he saw the white dodge ball zooming towards them.

'Kusu its all up to you then Asuna,' thought Negi as he grasped her a little tighter.

As Asuna thought the high schooler had been aiming for her the entire time knowing that Negi would block it with his arm if that happened. Knowing this she smiled slightly knowing what was coming next. The ball was coming straight at the two of them, though it was aimed at Negi's chest which was where Asuna was. Bracing herself for the impact she put both arms out in front of herself and let the ball soar through her outstretched arms, hit her in the chest and rebound back into her arms.

Negi felt the sudden impact and felt a sharp inhale of breath from Asuna. "Asuna-san, hey Asuna-san are you okay?"

Asuna gasped for breath, "Somehow yeah I'm okay. Thanks for not dropping me."

"It would take a lot more than that to make me drop you."

"...Thanks. You can let me down now since we have the ball by the way."

"Huh, oh yeah." For a moment he was starting to get quite comfortable with her in his arms but passed it off as nothing but a mere hallucination.

The high schoolers were now looking at them with shock. Though the team captain regained her composure quickly, "So what, you've got it now. But as soon as you throw it to us were gonna finish you off."

Asuna tried to give them a dirty scowl but slumped to her knees. 'That really hurt. And Negi has been catching several of those. And now I know that it wasn't even with magic. He's crazy.'

She tried standing back up but this time felt Negi's hand on her shoulder. She looked up and was greeted by a startling change in his face. His expression had turned stoney without any sign of emotion in it.

"Asuna-san give me the ball. I'm getting sick of this. Several times now they've tried to hurt you and the other students."

Without waiting for an answer he took the ball from her hands and walked calmly up to the line separating the high schoolers side from theirs.

Standing their calmly he looked at the high schoolers while holding the ball under his arm.

"I'm gonna start playing since you've constantly ignored my warnings about hurting my students."

They high schoolers were standing there looking back at him, a few of them slightly afraid.

Without waiting for a reply Negi dislodged the ball room under his arm and with a flick of his wrist sent it in the direction of his choice. It was to fast for Asuna to see and she was right behind him. In a blur that was impossible to dodge the ball scrapped the arm of one of the high schoolers leaving the skin rather raw. The ball bounced off the opposite wall and came back obediently to Negi who caught it calmly.

"One down, nine to go," he said without any emotion.

What followed next was little more than a blur for the people watching. Negi repeatedly aimed at spots that would only graze the person. He may have been angry but he didn't want to throw it so hard that they were sent flat on their stomachs gasping for breath.

Soon every high schooler was out except for the captain. Negi was standing their with his eyes closed as though deciding the best way to go about getting her out. Opening his eyes he saw that she flinched slightly. 'Good she's afraid, she should be.'

"You can surrender you know," he said suddenly.

She blinked back at him surprised. "And have my pride ruined. I'd sooner be sent back to the first grade."

"Suit yourself," said Negi and threw it at her.

She immediately screamed and sunk down on her knees waiting for the hit to come, though it didn't. She opened her eyes to see a laughing Negi standing their in front of him.

"Lessons learned I guess. I threw it at you but purposely missed."

"You....you....I."

"Sorry would be a good start."

Though instead of saying anything she took this opportunity to kiss him on the lips. The initial shock of her doing something so crazy froze Negi to the spot. Though as he felt her deepening it he quickly pushed her away.

Class 2-A were all standing their with their mouths open. Ayaka looked as though she was prepared to kill. Though nobody looked more angry than Asuna. If fire could have come out of her nostrils it would have.

Negi stood their for a moment frowning at the high schooler. "Was that your apology then?"

She simply winked at him and said, "Consider it a kiss or an apology, either way you've got some fine lips. Did you hear that," she said waving over in Asuna's direction. "Your boyfriend is a good kisser."

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND," yelled Asuna.

* * *

After the match class 2-A wanted to have a party in celebration of having Negi stay as their teacher. Though Negi turned them down and said that he was to tired. Though class the next day they would do something, he left the directions for Ayaka.

Back in his Asuna's and Konoka's dorm Negi flopped himself down on the couch and said to the seemingly empty room, "Uhh what a day."

"You're telling me."

Negi rolled over to see Asuna standing their looking down at him. Negi immediately sat up and asked her, "Asuna-san are you okay. You left so suddenly after the match that I wasn't sure what had happened to you."

"No I'm fine. I just needed a shower."

"Ah," Negi rolled back over. He felt like saying something about events during the match but wasn't sure where to start.

"Hey...Asuna-san...I." Though he was stopped when he heard her kneel down beside him and pull him off the couch into a small hug.

"Asuna what are you-"

"Baka, for today....well, thank you."

She let go of him after this and said something about going out with Konoka.

"Don't stay out to late. School and paper route don't forget."

"I've managed long before you were here. I think I can remember to be home on time. Stop sounding like a mother."

Negi simply chuckled and rolled over to take a little nap.


	4. Night Chaos

**Well since people seemed to like this I'm gonna go ahead and post four which is already done. Sorry this one is a lot shorter than the other but it does make up for the fight scenes. Now this chapter and five are completely my own creation. Basically its just a two part story arc that ties in to a later arc with regards to the actually manga of Negima. Also this is the first chapter where I start to implement my own spell creations.**

* * *

Later that same afternoon Negi found himself snoring on the couch only to be woken up by a familiar hand.

"Negi-kun...Negi-kun wake up," whispered Konoka

"Uhh what is it Konoka-san," said Negi as rolled over to face her.

"My grandfather wanted me to give this to you." She held out an envelope for him.

"For me," said Negi with a frown. He took it and turned it over. It looked official and Negi thought he knew what it was.

"Thanks Konoka-san...by the way I thought you and Asuna-san went out for a while."

"Oh well, Asuna was to tired so half way into downtown I told her that she needs to go back and sleep."

"So where is she now?"

Konoka turned around and pointed to the bunk bed where a lump was sighing softly. "Hey Negi-kun how come your asking about Asuna all of the sudden."

Negi blinked back at her. "No, No its nothing like that. I was just worried about her after the whole dodgeball incident. She took one of those directly to her chest. Even some of those I was having problems catching them."

Konoka smirked at Negi, "Are you sure thats not the only reason your worried about her chest."

Negi mouthed wordless back at her. "Konoka-san how could you even suggest something like that. Mine and Asuna-sans relationship is purely teacher student. Besides I treat you both the same since you two are the ones that I'm around the most."

"Okay, okay you convinced me," and she turned to leave.

"Wait where are you going Konoka-san."

"My grandfather wanted to see me about something."

"Wait I'll come to, I wanted to ask him some things about this letter."

"You sure you shouldn't stay here and protect Asuna from bed bugs."

Negi ignored her comment and went into the bathroom to change.

* * *

Sometime later Negi found himself in the deans office. Konoka had just left and now Negi and Konoka's grandfather where left to talk about Negi's future.

"So Negi I assume this is about that letter that I sent to you."

"Yes, sir."

"And you have not opened it yet?"

"No."

"What do you expect is concealed in that letter."

"My...my final task before I become a full fledged teacher."

"Smart as usual Negi. Now go ahead and open it. Though I can't guarantee that you'll like what you see."

Negi frowned at the dean but opened it anyway. Inside was a small written. Negi read out loud, "Negi Springfield, I have been following your teaching and am proud that it is up to Mahora Academy standards. I'm also proud of how you handled that incident with the high schoolers. Not letting any magic burst out of you is a good sign of control of ones own emotions. Now then, your final assignment doesn't have anything to do with magic. Rather it is to get your class out of the bottom of the exam finals. You see throughout your classes time here at Mahora they have never once gotten anything but below the lowest average score during exams. So I want you to show your determination as a teacher and bring them out of the bottom. Failure to do so will have your temporary teaching license revoked and you will be sent back to England. Best regards on this assignment, Konoemon Konoe."

Negi finished reading and looked up in shock to see the dean watching him closely. Get the class out of the bottom spot. It would take a miracle for that to happen. Thankfully he still had two months left to get it accomplished so he thought that time wise he would be okay. But thinking about Asuna and the rest of the baka rangers sent his hopes plummeting.

"Negi," said the dean suddenly. "This may seem like an impossible assignment but I believe that only you can do this. Above all else the affection that your class shows for you should be enough to make them study, for once."

Negi still had doubts though about this. He would rather welcome a fight with a demon than this.

The dean now stood up and walked over to Negi and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry for the son of the Nagi, The Thousand Master this should be easy."

Negi was surprised to hear his dads name and asked a question that he had been wondering about for a while. "Did you happen to know my dad at all?"

"Only distantly. I knew people who knew him. And I must say, you are his splitting image both physically and personality wise."

Negi chuckled, people told him that all the time. "What about my mother though." This was his real question.

Konoe's brow creased slightly, "I'm sorry but I have no idea as to who your mother is. Not many people do, and I'm not one of them. I know your father had many companions though and a friend of mine was one of them. You might want to find him. I'll let you know where he is another time though. Now you should head off to bed. Your gonna have a busy week ahead of you."

Negi nodded and left the room.

* * *

Negi slowly walked back to the dormitories thinking about how his class was gonna hate him for the next two months. Sighing he sped up a little wanting to get back to the dormitories.

The first thing he noticed when he approached their dormitory door what that it was slightly open. He thought that Konoka had said something about going to the library to check something that Yue and Nodoka has said to her. The second thing that sent his adrenaline pumping was the sounds of small scuffling and whispered voices.

Negi tiptoed up to the door and peered inside to see a shocking scene in front of him. Two men with black suits on with dark sun glasses were currently tying a rope around Asuna's arms and legs. Then one of the guys brought out a roll of tape and put it securely around her mouth to stop her from shouting.

Seeing this Negi didn't even think that it was a joke. Kicking his magic into gear he produced a small gust of wind that gave him enough speed to dash over to the two men in suits. Simultaneously he grabbed their heads and without warning brought them down as hard as he could onto the wooden edge of the bunk beds. Immediately they went slack in his grip and slumped over. Negi could see a small stream of blood coming out of the wound now and hoped that he hadn't killed them, no matter who they were.

Turning his attention to Asuna he carefully took the tape off her mouth and almost put it back on because she almost screamed. Though he put a hand over her mouth quickly and put one finger up to his lips to signify silence. Then he undid the ropes easily with a quick whispered incantation.

Now he took his hand of her mouth and looked at her worriedly. "Asuna-san please don't scream. Now I want you to calmly tell me what happened."

Asuna trembled for a minute but seemed to get control of herself. Taking a deep breath she said, "I had just heard the door open and turned so see if it was you or Konoka when those two men came in. I opened my mouth to scream but one of them suddenly appeared next to me. The other one started to ask me questions like is this Negi Springfield's room and do you know who he truly is. Then you showed up as the where tying me up and-" her voice broke."

Negi breathed a sigh of relief. At first he had thought that they had come after her because she knew about his magic. Normally humans who find out about wizards have their memory wiped about anything relating to that person. It didn't seem like they knew about her ability to cancel magic either. If they did then they wouldn't have bothered to ask her questions. They would have simply kidnapped her.

This left several options open to Negi. The first thing he suspected was these guys were simply another part of the test devised by the dean. Protect your students while maintaing your status as a teacher and to top it all off pass the exams. It sounded like the thing they expected of him. But the way that Asuna described these guys as asking question about him didn't seem like it was part of the test.

Turning to Asuna he now said, "Something is going on and I don't know what but I think its best if you change out of those pajamas and we go....somewhere." He had teetered for a moment on mentioning Takamichi but didn't think he should tell her he was a mage also.

"OK give me a second," said Asuna and turned around but stopped suddenly when she saw the two men getting up.

"Ne-gi," whispered Asuna fearfully.

Negi wheeled around to see them getting up. He thought that he had knocked them out at least but they didn't even show any sign of injury. 'These guys are either crazy are way above my current level....this is bad.'

"Asuna-san get behind me."

Asuna did what she was told and looked at Negi's face. She had never seen him with such a worried look on his face. "Negi what is going on."

"You are Negi Springfield I take it," said one of the men

Negi didn't think he could bluff his way out of this and simply nodded.

"This makes our job much easier. Our boss told us that you are a dangerous threat to our organization and they we should eliminate you before pose any danger to us."

Negi was correct in think that they were way beyond his level. The next second he appeared next to Negi and punched him in the chest sending him flying backwards out the door and cracking the pillar behind him. 'That was instantaneous movement with a Sagitta Magica lightning infused punch. Shit this is bad. I can't fight these guys. Their way to strong.'

Standing up into a wobbly position Negi looked at one of the men who was now chanting.

"_Quadraginta Novem Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis!"*_

'Kusu, forty-nine arrows of lightning,' thought Negi as they came flying towards him. I can't dodge that many.'

Suddenly Negi saw Asuna dart in front of him, grab his arm and steer him of to the right down the stairs. Most of the arrows of lightning simply hit the pillar and destroyed it. Though the ones that came close enough to Asuna simply curved off to left.

"Asuna-san what are you doing, this doesn't concern you."

"This concerned me to moment that I learned that your a mage. And I wont sit back and let you get killed."

"Asuna-san."

Negi now gained control of himself and quickly summoned his staff to his side.

"Negi what are you-"

"This is gonna sound surprising but I'm gonna find Takamichi."

"Takahata-sensei? Why what can he do."

"Believe it or not he's a mage like me. And a lot stronger to." Though Negi sure didn't want to admit it.

"You mean you've kept something like this from me for so long," whispered Asuna in a dangerous voice.

"Sorry but this isn't the time to be arguing....now come on." With that he grabbed her arm and pulled her up onto his staff. "Now hold on to me tight. I don't want you to slide off and fall when where several hundred feet in the air."

"What are you-" but then Negi kicked off hard against the ground and soared up into the air. It had been a while since he was able to fly and he momentarily forgot what he was doing up their. Asuna however reminded him with a sharp pinch to the cheek.

Suddenly Negi felt something pass close to his cheek. Wheeling around Negi saw that the two men where chasing after them with out any means of support. 'To be able to fly through the air without a median is astounding. And their able to fire off high level spells. Kusu I've got to find Takamichi.'

Negi swerved out of the way to dodge a bolt of lightning. Now though he turned to look behind him and heard that one of the guys was chanting a massive spell.

"_Oh Unda Quod Aer. Temerarius Meus Quod Operor Meus. Turbo in Divum__**."***_

'Water,' thought Negi. 'No, he's drawing water from the clouds to use. Shit I've got to dodge this.' The next second Negi heard a roar behind him and turned around again to see a giant whirlpool of water coming towards them. 'Kusu thats to big to dodge....but wait thats right.'

Negi had momentarily forgotten that Asuna was able to cancel all kinds of magic out and simply waited for the spell to pass over them. When the spell did come into contact with them it did the weirdest thing ever. Upon contact with them it split in two at the start and curved around to reform. For a brief second Asuna and Negi were inside the torrent of water.

"Negi what are you doing," asked Asuna in awe.

Negi lied and said, "A barrier." No barrier he had could have blocked this and he was extremely glad that he had Asuna with him.

The Men in black suits were astounded at what they saw. Before they had thought that they had made a mistake but now they saw that that girl was doing something. One of them thought, 'Our master will be interested in learning this.'

* * *

Soon the men had fallen behind and Negi was able to land at Takamichi's small house.

Negi and Asuna dismounted and looked around. Takamichi's front door was hanging off its hinges. Negi gave Asuna a quick look and motioned for her to stick close to him. Negi then stepped over the threshold of Takamichi's house and saw destruction greeting him. The living room looked like a tornado had hit it. The furniture was strewn across the living room, with several tables upturned. Negi also saw something that looked like blood stained across one of the cushions.

'Looks like they tried to take Takamichi out also. Though if I know him they got their butts handed to them.'

Negi now examined the kitchen. The floor had glass all over it and their were several burns in the wood panels. Negi turned and saw Asuna as close to him as possible without rubbing up against him. 'Guess this is something off a shock for her. This is the results of two mages fighting each other.' He wanted to put a comforting arm around her but restrained himself. 'She's still my student so something like that isn't acceptable...even so though.'

Asuna had now sunk down to her knees and was shaking slightly. Negi decided at that moment that he wasn't her teacher and someone that didn't want to see her hurting. Kneeling down next to her he brought her into a small hug and rested his chin on her head. Being slightly taller than her it wasn't very hard. "Asuna-," he teetered for a moment on deciding whether or not to add the san suffix as he normally did when talking to his students, but instead took a deep breath and continued. "Asuna...don't worry about Takamichi. He's more than capable of fending off an attacker, especially if their anything like the two we met earlier."

Asuna looked up at him questioningly. "How can you be so sure about that?"

Negi felt a small smile appear on his face. "As someone who has fought him first hand...and never won I can easily say that his attackers are either dead or unconscious. He's actually rather well known in Wales. They called him death glasses Takahata. Though he doesn't keep up with events in the magic world anymore."

"Hmph, should have known that someone like Takahata-sensei would never lose to anyone." Asuna now regained her feet, shook her head and said, "I was stupid for thinking that he was...well, you know."

Negi whispered, "Its understandable that you'd be afraid for the person you love."

He didn't really think before he said that and next thing Asuna hit him on the head.

"Baka, don't go saying something like that out loud. He might still be around."

Negi nodded now and went upstairs to check. The small bed was turned over on its side and behind it was a man in those similar black suits. Negi felt his pulse and felt a faint beat. 'Knocked out I see. Well, if he was fighting Takamichi while he was using Kankaho he should be lucky to be alive.'

"Negi...what should we do about this."

Negi turned to see Asuna looking at the body over his shoulder. Negi smiled and said, "Nothing much. I'm just gonna bind him here so when he wakes up he wont be able move."

With that Negi started chanting, "Ras tel Mas kil Magister: _Septendecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs, Vinculum Factī Inimīcum Captent! Sagitta Magica, Āēr Captūrae!"*_

Seventeen wisps of wind appeared out of no where and wrapped around the unconscious body pinning him there. Standing up Negi said, "That should hold him for a while."

Negi turned to Asuna and said, "I don't think Takamichi is here anymore. I'd be better if we go back to the school. Theirs a better chance we'll find him their."

"What about the men in the black suits."

"I don't think they'll follow us all the way out here. They seem to want something with the school, and me and Takamichi were the two that were the most likely to interfere."

Asuna simply nodded and followed Negi back downstairs and out the door.

* * *

Negi and Asuna where standing on the front porch and looking back into the faces of the two that had followed them earlier.

'Shit this is bad,' thought Negi. 'Without Takamichi I don't think I'll be able to hold my own for very long.'

One of the guys made a sudden motion and Negi reacted to it.

"_Ūndētrīgintā Spīritūs Aqua! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Aqua!"*_

"_Ūndētrīgintā Spīritūs Fulgurālis! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Fulgurālis!"* _

The two spells collided and bounced off of each other ricocheting in all directions. Negi grabbed Asuna around the waist and pulled her out of the line of fire. He had momentarily forgotten that she was able to cancel magic again.

Letting go of her he rolled and fired off another spell.

"_Septendecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis!"* _

Though they guy he had been fighting simply blocked it with a water barrier. With the water barrier encircling him he casted the spell he had used earlier.

"_Oh Unda Quod Aer. Temerarius Meus Quod Operor Meus. Turbo in Divum__**."**_

Negi was hit this time with the full force of it and send spinning into the side of Takamichi's house, crashing through the wood and into the living room. It felt as though he had fractured his arm and looking down he saw that it was bent at a strange angle.

'What do I do? These guys are obviously a lot stronger than I am.' The way Negi saw it he had two options. Grab Asuna and run. Or try to continue stalling until help comes. 'They must have felt the random bursts of magic power by now. Plus I have a spell that I've been meaning to try.'

The two guys in black suits where standing their waiting for Negi to resurface from the rubble. Suddenly the two of them heard him chanting.

Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister: _Vertātur Tempestās Vēris! Nōbīs Prōtectiōnem Āeriālem! Flāns Pariēs Ventī Vertentis!*_

From the rubble a tornado erupted and circled around the spot where Negi was.

'Hmph,' thought one of the men in black suits. 'A pathetic wind barrier like that wont be able to protect you.'

"_Quadraginta Novem Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica-"_

Though he was cut off when he saw movement to his right. Negi appeared from his side and said, "_Sim Ipse Pars, Negi Springfield, Accelerat!"*_

Invoking a contract on himself Negi sped towards his opponent with blinding speed.

'Hmph so he used the wind barrier as a distraction while he snuck around my side knowing that I would simply destroy the barrier. Not bad Mr. Springfield. However you're to slow with your incantations. Your practically committing suicide.' However he froze when he heard Negi utter four simple words.

"_Sagitta Magica,_ _Āēr Captūrae!" _Pressing both of his hands against his opponents chest Negi summoned twenty-nine wind arrows and bound the man there forcing him to the ground.

Through a mouth full of dirt he said, "Impressive, to use a delay spell like that and capture me. Though its only me, my partner is much stronger than I am."

Negi turned to face his partner now who had started chanting as soon as he saw that his friend had been captured.

(His activation Key) "Oom Kiri Kiri Om: _Incendia ut exuro libere in silva. Redimio in meus manuum ut EGO may premo meus hostilis. Aestuo coniecto pugnus."*_

Negi starred blankly back at the person as he saw the flaming fists getting closer to him. 'I don't even have enough strength now to put up a defense of any kind....wonderful. I feel ashamed to have been called the son of the thousand master.'

Negi now closed his eyes and waited for the blow that was coming...though it never did. Negi opened his eyes and saw the familiar back of Takamichi standing in front of him.

"Takahata-sensei," said Asuna in awe.

Negi now saw that Takamichi had stopped the guys fist bare handed. The fist was still smoking slightly from the fire that had imbued it a moment ago.

"Negi you've held out well. Leave the rest to me."

"Takamichi what is going on. What happened to all my students."

"Your students are safe. I'll explain everything to you in a moment. Just let me clean up here."

Takamichi now turned to his opponent. "I had heard that the leader was a combat mage that specialized in manipulating fire."

"What do you care?"

"I'd simply like to know your name. Since you could die by fighting me I think its appropriate for me to hear what you call yourself."

"Well, theirs no reason for me to ask you who you are. Your death glasses Takahata. We were warned especially about you and were told to kill you on sight. Apparently the two I sent to do that failed. What happened to them?"

"One of them is passed out behind my bed while the other one is lying unconscious somewhere behind my house. I kicked him a little hard and he got knocked out of a window."

"Hmph those two never were very good at magic, more of drops outs then anything." Here he sighed. "I respect you as a fellow combat mage so I will tell you my name. Its Kato Kiyomasa."

Takamichi smiled then, "Lets get this over with. I've got a bunch of other things to attend to tonight."

"Either way one of us isn't coming back from this fight."

"Oom Kiri Kiri Om: _Incendia ut exuro libere in silva. Redimio in meus manuum ut EGO may premo meus hostilis. Aestuo coniecto pugnus."_

Kato activated the spell he tried to use on Negi and now was using Shundo (Instantaneous movement) to attack Takamichi from all directions.

Negi was amazed at the speed that they were fighting at and suddenly felt somebody touch his arm which he had fractured. He flinched slightly and looked around to see Asuna standing next to him. "Asuna-san what are you doing."

"Baka, you injured yourself didn't you. Your arm is sticking out at a weird angle."

"Its nothing to worry about," shrugged Negi. "I'll get it set back in place later." He turned his attention back to Takamichi and Kato. Kato was starting to use higher level magic and started a long invocation.

"Oom Kiri Kiri Om:φωτιά ότι κόκκαλο και καταστρέφω σάρκα. καίω εχθρός ζωντανός so ότι εγώ μπορώ ακούω ξεφλουδίζω. καίω όλος. άπειρος _καιόμενος_."_*_

Immediately a raging circle of flames erupted and circled around Takamichi.

"What do you think Takahata," said Kato. "Aren't you going to use Kankaho, death glasses. Wont help you though. I know that you were a drop out in the magic academy and that you can use invocations."

Takamichi simply shrugged and said, "Don't judge mages by how they did in school. Don't forget that the thousand master himself was a drop out."

Kato grimaced and charged into the wall of fire, only to have it open up for him.

Asuna however was shocked that everyone seemed to know about Takamichi. "Is he really that well known in the magic world," asked Asuna?

"Well, yeah, he was friends with my father when he was younger, or thats what I've heard. And he's built a reputation that says you wont be able to look at him a second time after he gets serious. Thats why he's known as death glasses."

"So does he know anything about your father then?"

Negi was silent for a minute before he said, "If he does he hasn't told me anything. Though I'm fine with that. I want to find out about my father and my mother by myself."

Asuna looked back at Negi in admiration before turning back to the fight.

The flames had slowly gotten closer to the two of them fighting inside when Kato jumped out of the flames. Just as he did the flame wall grew bigger and soon a dome had formed around Takamichi. In an instance the flames converged on him and from everyones few he had been consumed by the flames.

"TAKAHATA-SENSEI," screamed Asuna. She ran towards then flames but stopped when she saw Negi throw a hand out in front of her.

"Don't worry about him. A spell of this level isn't enough to stop him."

Sure enough several moments later Takamichi came walking out of the flames. A golden aura was around his body which seemed to be protecting him from the flames.

"Hmm so thats Kankaho. The combination of eastern chi with western magic. Rather impressive if I do say so myself. Though if you cant hit me it wont matte-"

Suddenly Takamichi appeared in front of him with his palm thrust outward towards Kato's chin. Hitting him Kato felt his jaw shatter and was sent flying backwards. Hitting a tree trunk he was sent to his knees passed out.

Negi smirked and said to Asuna, "See, what did I say. Nobody has ever been able to block that move."

Takamichi now turned away from Kato and walked calmly over to Asuna and Negi while lighting a cigarette. 'Takamichi is so cool,' thought Asuna. 'Negi on the other hand.' She looked around to see Negi watching Takamichi get closer to them. 'Well, I guess he's okay to.'

Takamichi now stood in front of the two teens and said, "I've got a lot of things to talk to you about and its best if I get it over with now."

* * *

A/N: OK here is the list of all the spells found in this chapter in English. Its ordered by when the spells appeared in the chapter.

1. Let the 49 Gathering Spirits of the Air Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Lightning Series!

(This next spell is one of my own creation. Throughout this fanfic I plan on making my own spells as I go.) 2. Oh water in the clouds and atmosphere. Heed my command and do my bidding. Whirlpool in the sky.

3. Let the 17 Spirits of the Air that Have Become a Chain Capture the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Binding Air!

4. 29 Spirits of Water! Magic Arrow! Water Series!

5. 29 Spirits of Lightning! Magic Arrow! Lightning Series!

6. Let the 17 Gathering Spirits of the Air Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Lightning Series!

7. (Refer to 2.)

8. Let the Spring Storm Turn! Send the Protection of Air to Us! Blusterous Tornado Barrier!

9. (Basically same thing as 1. except last part is cut off.)

10. Let me Myself be the Part, Negi Springfield, Let it Accelerate!

11. Fire that burns freely in the forest. Bind into my hands so that I may strike down my enemies. Blazing inferno fists. (Another of my own)

12. (Refer to 11.)

(Yes this last one is in Greek. Thought it would be best if the higher level spells were in Greek to give the fights more feeling.) 13. Fire that chars bones and destroys flesh. Burn my enemy alive so that I may hear the skin peeling. Burn All. Infinite Burning.


	5. For My Students

**OK, here is five which I have held back till now and the end of my own story arc. I really don't have a name for it or anything. Though some of you probably figured out before what arc of the actual Negima manga this will tie into. I hate to say this but its gonna be a while before I get around to working on six. I've got my Fate of the Asakura Clan fic to work on since its the first one I started and I've waited to long to work on the next chapter. Also a friend of mine wanted me to help him work on a movie that he wants to make and I'm gonna be editing it. (I've got adobe premiere cs4 on my mac) So don't be surprised if it takes me a few weeks to get this updated instead of a few days. Till then Ja Ne.**

* * *

"Takamichi what is going on around here?"

Takamichi looked from Negi and then to Asuna.

"Err Negi," he asked while pointing at Asuna.

"Huh?"

"I take it she found out about you being a mage?"

Negi brushed this off. "She found out the first day I started teaching here. Its not that big of a deal."

Takamichi frowned at him and thought, 'I'll address that later.'

"Well, there isn't any better way to explain this so I'll just come out and say it. Mahora Academy is currently under attack by a magic association."

"Magic association," asked Asuna in surprise. "What their are magic groups."

"Hai Asuna-san," said Takamichi. "Their is also a government for the magical community. Though if I sit here and discuss all the working's of the magical world we would be here until sunrise. Though for the time being these guys are considered more of terrorists than anything."

Asuna's head was spinning. Terrorist capable of using magic. What was next vampires?

"Takamichi you said that they were part of a magic association though. What makes them terrorist then?"

"They're part of a magic association. Though the association is not getting involved directly in the battle. What were fighting is just a branch of the association. This branch doesn't like dealings with Konoemon who is the head of the Kanto magic association."

"Then let me guess," said Negi. "This group is from the Kansai magic association."

"I'm rather surprised that you knew that."

"I'm not very surprised. When you mentioned the Kanto magic association I assumed these mages where from the Kansai magic association. The two have never gotten along well. So how come their here."

"I'm still not sure yet. But they are currently holding Konoemon hostage in his office."

Negi snorted, "Why are we even worrying about him. He could take all of them with one hand. I've heard that he was a great mage when he was younger and I doubt getting old has slowed his reflex's much."

"I wish it would be that easy but its not. Their leader threatened to take the students hostage if he didn't obey them."

Negi was silent for a minute. "So he basically threatened the students...including mine."

Asuna had never heard such pure hatred in Negi's voice before. His sudden change in personalities still surprised her sometimes.

"Thats the gist of it at least," said Takamichi.

"So where are all the students now?"

"Every class has been assigned a safe place with a mage teacher guarding them. Apparently your class was planning a party for you and we were lucky that they were all together. Except for Asuna-san, though I should have expected her to be with you," smirked Takamichi.

"Not that again," grimaced Negi. "Anyway all we need to do is get to the deans office and stop these guys, right."

"Sounds easy, but it wont be."

"Well, enough talking lets go." Negi stood up but immediately felt Asuna push him back down.

"Not with your arm like that baka, you could get even more injured then you are like that."

"Asuna-san I can't sit here knowing that I might make a difference in stopping this."

"She's right Negi you can't go with a fractured arm. How do you intend to cast spells when your in so much pain."

"I-" Negi wasn't sure what he was gonna say and hung his head.

"Negi don't worry I'll defeat these guys and make sure that nothing happens to your students. You've already done enough."

"Ha-hai," whispered Negi.

"Now though before I go I have something that I'd like to discuss with you, alone." Turning to Asuna he said, "Asuna-san can your pardon us for a minute. I have something I want to ask Negi about as a teacher and I don't want you hearing it. Its with regards to exams."

Asuna was rather shocked that Takamichi was bringing up exams at a time like this but nodded her head and walked a ways away.

Negi turned to Takamichi now and said, "OK that was the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Hmph, talking about exams at a time like this. So what did you want to talk about that was so important that Asuna-san could be here."

Takamichi sighed and paused for a moment, "I assume you've realized it by now."

"You mean her ability?"

"Yeah."

"Who is Asuna-san really. You've obviously known her for a while and keeping something like that from her is just...."

"It was better off her not knowing about her past. It would come back to haunt her. I brought her here so that she could lead a normal life. Now though that she's met you and is caught up in all this...."

"Did she originally come from the magic world?"

Takamichi was silent again.

"Damn you, how long are you gonna keep me in the dark about these things."

"Sorry but this is another thing that you'll have to find out for yourself, or both of you will have to."

"Great I'll just add it to the long list of things that I've got to find out."

They were both silent for a while watching the trees blow against the wind.

"Negi....you'll watch after her wont you. You must know that if anybody learned that someone of her power was living here at the academy they would kidnap her."

"Baka, I'm her teacher of course I'll look after her."

Takamichi now turned to Negi with a serious look on her face. "I don't want you to just protect her as your student but also as somebody who cares about her well being."

"I'd understand this a lot better if you'd just tell me who she is."

Takamichi sighed again and said, "I don't even know all the details myself so I could only give a rough explanation of everything thats happened to her. Its better off, you not knowing now anyway. Just be sure to keep an eye on her. I'll be extremely glad when this all over. Truth be I'm more worried that the Kansai magic association will learn about her abilities and try to use them to gain control of Japan....so you'll watch her right.

"Yeah," said Negi and he flopped on his back in the grass.

Takamichi tossed his cigarette on the ground and said, "Stay here with her. When I'm done I'll come and find you guys."

Negi simply waved his hand up into the air in fair well and heard Takamichi walk off into the woods.

'Great,' thought Negi. 'So now I've got more questions that I want answered. Though for some reason I feel that finding out about Asuna's past is more important that my father. Uhh this is becoming a lot of work.'

Negi turned around now and saw Asuna standing over him with her arms folded. "So Negi what did Takamichi really want to talk to you about."

Negi thought that Asuna had seen through Takamichi's lie and really wanted to know what he had said, "Asuna-san he really did want to talk to me about exams."

"Yeah right and I'm supposed to believe that?"

"This doesn't concern you Asuna-san."

Asuna grabbed the front of his shirt and said, "Don't give me that crap baka. I'm stuck with you since you were so careless and let me find out you were a mage. I deserve to know what's going on also.

"Sorry Asuna-san but Takamichi told me expressively that you were not to know what we talked about."

Asuna hit him on the head and said, "For once I don't care what Takahata-sensei said. I know it concerns me since he told me that he only wanted to talk to you."

"Asuna-san....damn it." Negi felt excruciating pain shoot through his arm. The pain sent him to his knees."

"NEGI." Asuna kneeled down beside him. "Negi, are you okay?"

Negi smiled back rather weakly. "Yeah, it hurts a lot, but I'll manage." Their previous argument was forgotten for a moment.

Asuna took a closer look at his arm. "Isn't their anyway for you to fix it....like with a spell, or something."

"Normally yes, but I was never great at recovery spells."

"I should have suspected that," said Asuna. "Well, the least I can do is make you comfortable. Stay here I'm gonna go look for something in Takahata-sensei's house to make a sling out of."

Asuna turned to leave but Negi grabbed her hand with his good arm. "No your not, you're staying right here."

"Let go baka. Why are you acting so worried all the sudden anyway?"

"I..." Negi decided that he would have to tell her some of the things that Takamichi said. Though of course he would lie about her magic cancel.

"Asuna-san, Takamichi told me that above all else I should protect you. I also feel the same way about it. So I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Asuna snorted, "Your just doing this because Takahata-sensei told you to."

"NO I'M NOT," shouted Negi.

Asuna looked at him in surprise and felt his grip on her hand slackening. "Negi wha-"

"Asuna-san I'm doing this because I want to. Truth is your in danger as long as your with me. If those other mages from the Kansai association find out I have a student with me they'll try to kidnap you and use you as leverage to complete their goal. I along with Takamichi feel its best if we stick together until this is over with." Negi paused here for a moment before continuing. "I was worried about you from the minute that I walked into our dormitory. I-I'm sorry about getting you mixed up all this."

Asuna looked back at Negi in surprise. "Negi you....you...complete baka. I don't know why but I'm glad that you were a baka and used magic while I was watching. I feel as though it somehow helped us become...well, friends."

"Heh I guess we are, even though we argue a lot."

"Yeah," sighed Asuna.

Negi laid back down on the grass now and closed his eyes. 'Kusu my arm hurts like hell. And I can't help but feel like Takamichi is going to need some help. If only their was a way to fix this stupid thing.'

"Hey Negi?"

"Hmm."

"What if Takahata-sensei doesn't come back for us. What do we do?"

Negi sighed and said, "To tell you the truth I'm not sure. Fighting for me would be hard right now. My reflex's are shot and I'm pretty exhausted both physically and magically. I wouldn't last long against any enemy right now."

Asuna frowned at him and said, "Well we should take shelter in Takamichi's house for now. I'm getting cold and a little hungry. Plus I should be able to find something to lessen the pain in your arm."

"Yeah, I think that would be best for now. I can't help but feel something isn't right about Takamichi going to fight them on his own."

"He'll be okay right?"

"From what you saw just a little while ago you shouldn't even be asking that."

"Yeah." Asuna now stood up and grabbed Negi's good hand and pulled him up. Negi winced slightly which Asuna noticed and looked at him concerned. Negi smiled back and said, "Don't worry I can manage.

* * *

Even though Takamichi's house was a mess it gave them shelter from the wind that had picked up outside. Asuna had flipped over some of the furniture that had been laying on its side and now Negi was sprawled out on the couch resting his arm on a cushion. Asuna had gone into the kitchen to see if their was any food left in the fridge. Walking back into the living room she addressed Negi.

"Well, their isn't much to eat except ramen."

Asuna was surprised when Negi laughed out loud, "Heh yeah, he never used to eat much except ramen. He always used to carry instant ramen with him when he lived in Wales for a while."

"He lived in Wales?"

"For a brief time. I think he was staying there to check on me. I think he was keeping watch on me while my father was gone. Though I never asked him about it."

"So then ramen it is?"

"Not unless your able to cook something else."

Asuna scowled at him, "Just because I can't cook as well as Konoka doesn't mean that I don't know how."

Negi smirked at her. "I'm not ready to take any chances."

"Stupid baka!"

Saying this Asuna stormed off into the kitchen while Negi was silently laughing.

* * *

'Ah he can be so irritating with his senselessness,' thought Asuna as she stood over the pot that was starting to boil the water. 'But he is too careless. I sometimes wonder how he's ever became a mage with his laxness.'

With the water to a boil Asuna put the noodles in and waited for them to boil. Turning her back on the stove she leaned back against the counter and continued to think about Negi. 'One thing thats bothering me though earlier he had blocked that water spell thingy but later he wasn't able to. Was it because he was all ready tired, or was he not able to react quick enough.'

Turning back to the stove she saw that the noodles were ready. Turning off the stove she added the seasoning packet and stirred it before putting it into two bowls. A rather interesting thought suddenly crossed her mind. 'Oh yeah isn't this kinda like me making dinner for him. If dinner can be counted as ramen. Ah no I'm just doing this to help him get his strength back. Nothing more than that.'

She walked out of the kitchen to see Negi sitting up waiting for her.

"Don't look so surprised," he said. "It's not like I'm on my death bed."

"Ha ha very funny, here," she said shoving the bowl into his hands.

Negi murmured a word of thanks and ate the ramen with her in silence.

Finishing he set the bowl down and leaned back against the couch.

"Hey Negi if you want me to I can probably find some mild pain killers around here. If it will help at all."

"Don't bother Takamichi wouldn't need anything like that."

"Don't you think he should be back by now...its been two hours."

Negi looked out the window and sighed, "Yeah I think he should have been. Maybe he ran into some trouble."

Negi immediately regretted what he had said when he saw Asuna's worried face. "Though I'm sure that its nothing he can't handle."

Asuna still looked worried so Negi decided to change the subject.

"Asuna-san I think its best if we try and get some sleep. Most likely tomorrow is going to be hectic. Though I don't think its smart to sleep at the same time. We should take turns watching in case enemies show up. I'll take the first watch."

Asuna immediately fired up. "No you won't baka. If anything I'll be keeping watch the entire time."

"What, no I can't allow that Asuna-san. You need to sleep also."

"Your the one thats gonna be fighting not me."

"I don't care sleep is important. We'll split the time. Four hours each."

"Fine but I'm taking the first one. You can sleep here or go upstairs."

"I'd prefer staying down here. Theirs still a body up their and sleeping close to it doesn't sound very relaxing."

"Yeah."

"Be sure to wake me when your watch it over."

"Hai, hai now get to sleep baka."

* * *

Negi woke up at half past four in the morning. He looked over and saw that Asuna was sleeping in a chair next to him and was curled up in a ball sleeping. 'Should have known she wouldn't be able to stay awake the entire time.'

Negi sighed and swung his legs around so that they were on the floor. Sitting up he brought his fractured arm off the cushion and moved it a little. He winced at the pain but was glad that he was able to move it.

Negi now looked over at Asuna. It really was cute how she had curled up in a ball next to him. Negi took a few steps over to her and gently picked her up one handed and laid her down on the couch where he had just been sleeping. Now he tossed the blanket over her and sat down in the chair that she had recently been occupying.

'It'd be nice if we could just go back to our daily lives after this. But I think this is only the beginning of everything. Though Takamichi is right, she's in danger as long as she is being exposed to the magical world. Maybe it would have been better to wipe her memory of me.'

Negi didn't particularly like that thought, even if it was true. He had grown to act like himself whenever he was around Asuna and Konoka and had to admit it was fun being with them. He considered Asuna to be his closest friend too since she was the one that had found out about his magic and instead of rejecting him and reporting him had excepted him. In ancient times normal humans were afraid of magic and persecuted those that practiced it. Negi was afraid that he wouldn't have been excepted for who he really was if anyone found out about his secret. But Asuna was different.

'Kusu, this is my fault that she's stuck in this mess, and I don't want to see her hurt.'

Negi now leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as the night passed by.

* * *

Negi felt his eyes bolt open when he heard a sudden crashing noise. He looked around and saw that the couch was empty. Immediately becoming worried he ran into the kitchen.

"ASUNA-SAN WHERE ARE YOU."

"Right here baka."

Negi turned and saw that she was walking down the stairs.

"What were you shouting about Negi?"

"I'm sorry I...I didn't see you when I woke up so I was worried."

Asuna frowned at him. "Your really worried about me, aren't you?"

"Hai."

"Well, don't be. I can take care of myself."

Negi shrugged and walked over to the fridge to look for anything before they left.

"What where you looking for upstairs anyway."

"Pain killers of course. Even if you said he wouldn't carry any I wasn't going to believe it till I saw it."

"And?"

Asuna replied by tossing a small bottle at him. "Take four of those now. It should help ease the pain a little."

Negi looked at her questioningly but swallowed four pills. "I don't have much of an appetite, do you?"

"No, not really."

"Then I think its best if we head back to the school."

"How do you feel?"

"Fine," though he was lying.

Asuna looked at him for a minute as though determining if he really was then, "OK then lets go."

"Err actually Asuna-san I think its better if you wait her and-"

He was stopped short when Asuna stomped on his foot and said in a dangerous voice, "I'm sticking with you through this. If I don't than you'll kill yourself while trying to stop this."

Negi shook his head and said, "I don't want to risk you getting hurt and-"

He was cut short again but this time instead of stomping on his foot Asuna grabbed him into a hug and brought him close to her.

"Asuna-san what are you...."

"Baka Negi, where you go I go. Thats not going to change anytime soon. Though I appreciate that your worried about me so much. But if you don't worry about yourself your gonna get yourself killed. Iincho wont forgive me if I allow that to happen."

"Asuna-san..."

Asuna let go now and smiled at Negi. "Lets go we've got to rescue Takahata-sensei first."

"Hai."

* * *

Negi and Asuna walked slowly back towards the edge of the school grounds. Hiding in the trees they looked over at the courtyard in front of the main building of the school. Several guards were posted in front.

"How are we supposed to get around that," asked Asuna.

Negi smirked and said, "Simple a distraction."

With that Negi fired of a small light spell in the direction of the dormitories. Immediately the guards saw this and darted after it in the direction it was headed.

"OK so far so good, C'mon on Asuna-san."

Together they ran across the courtyard until they reached the front door. Panting slightly the two of them peered through the door. It didn't seem like anyone was there.

"Lets go I don't see anyone."

Asuna nodded and followed close behind him.

Soon they got to the staircase that would take them up to the deans office. However their was a guard that was smoking a cigarette on one of the landings. Negi was about to creep up to him when Asuna grabbed his hand.

"Hang on let me do this."

Negi almost shouted, "Absolutely not."

"Stop being such an idiot. Besides I want to help out."

"What do you have in mind?"

But before he got an answer she darted around the corner to see the guard standing their shell shocked. "BAKA," she screamed at the top of her voice.

The guard immediately tore after her. Asuna darted back around the corner and put a finger to her lips to tell Negi to be quite. Negi was standing their with his mouth hanging open at the nerve that she showed.

When the guard came around the corner he expected to see her running down the hallways. What he didn't expect was to see her standing their waiting for him with a person that they had been told to kill on sight behind her.

Asuna swung her leg out as hard as she could and kicked him in between the legs. Being known as the baka with ridiculous strength the guard immediately fell to his knees gasping for breath.

"All yours Negi."

Negi couldn't help it, he grinned at what she had done. Walking up to the guard he chanted softly, "Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister:_ Septendecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs, Vinculum Factī Inimīcum Captent! Sagitta Magica, Āēr Captūrae!"*_

Arrows of wind appeared and wrapped themselves around the guards body before pinning him to the ground. Negi now looked up to see Asuna with her arms crossed as though expecting something. Negi smiled at her and said, "OK I admit it. That was pretty clever."

Asuna smiled at him and said, "Lets go, then."

Negi nodded and they walked carefully up the rest of the staircase.

* * *

Negi and Asuna were soon listening out of the door that led into the deans office.

"So Konoemon," said an unfamiliar voice. "You still refuse to step down from your position as head of the Kanto association."

"If I do then you will forcefully replace me with somebody from the Kansai association and the Kanto association will cease to exist."

"Lets stop this talk of Kansai and Kanto already. I couldn't care less about who in the associations has power. I simply want power for myself. And with you out of the way I could easily usurp the power within the Kansai association. I have many followers who don't like what the head is doing right now. So the way I see it you have two choices. One you can step down without any problems. Or two I can make you step down by threatening a student or two."

Suddenly a new voice spoke, "Do you really think that Konoemon would give in to either demands. You've become nothing more than a terrorist Takeda."

"Shut your mouth Takamichi. Your not in any position to be talking like that to me."

"What's going on," asked Asuna.

"I don't know," whispered Negi. 'But I'm starting to get really pissed at this."

The person called Takeda started to talk again. "It would be so much easier if you just gave me your word that you will step down. I know that the students are being guarded by teachers who are also mages. I have already found all the locations and am prepared to kidnap some students as leverage."

Konoemon sighed, "You've really put me in a spot that I can't back out off." Here he threw Takeda a scowl.

"No point in threatening me. I hold everything."

"Actually you don't," said Takamichi.

"If you mean that brat Negi then I don't care about him. I've learned that he's nothing compared to his father. It would be a waste of time to find him and kill him."

Negi was starting to shake with anger and Asuna was getting worried that he might suddenly burst into the room.

"Negi don't let him get to you."

"Asuna-san he's insulting me and threatening my students I can't stand here and just ignore this."

"What about what you said to me before. About how fighting never solves anything."

"Sometimes fighting is the only means of protecting or saving someone. Right now thats about the only thing I can think."

Negi now brought his good hand up and open the door calmly.

The scene that greeted him was somewhat funny. The person named Takeda was sitting on the couch with a shocked look in his eyes which immediately turned to malice. Konoemon was sitting rather calmly at his desk with his hands crossed. The funniest thing was Takamichi. He was sealed inside of some orange barrier. It was taking three people just to keep him confined.

"Negi....Asuna-san," said Takamichi is surprise. "I thought I told you to-"

"Sorry Takamichi but I've never been one to listen to you."

Takamichi sighed and frowned at Negi. "You shouldn't have brought Asuna-san though."

Negi smiled at Takamichi then turned to Asuna. "She refused to saying that were I got she goes."

"How touching," said Takeda getting over his shock. "Though if you don't mind me asking what are you doing here."

"Thats stupid, to stop you of course."

Takeda laughed, "From what I heard you are a helpless teenager who isn't fit to be called the thousand master son. Or what some people have called you the reincarnation of the thousand master, your father."

Negi was shaking in anger. "Never talk about my father like that."

"Hah why bother he's dead now so it does-"

He was stopped short when Negi's fist connected with the side of his face. He was sent flying into the wall chipping some of the wood paneling."

"I thought I told you never to talk about my father like that."

Asuna had never seen this side of Negi. It was like he was radiating pure hatred.

"Negi," said Takamichi warningly.

"No I don't care. I'm gonna pummel this guy."

Takeda pushed himself up from the rubble, 'What was that? It didn't seem like Shundo and it definitely wasn't as fast as Shundo.'

Negi was glaring back at Takeda now. "I don't care that I've got a fractured arm. I'm not stopping till I've got this guy on his knees."

'Shit,' thought Takamichi. 'Every time he lets his anger take control of him he won't stop until he's got his opponent begging for mercy.' Turning to Asuna he said, "Asuna-san stop him. He's either gonna kill himself or his opponent if you don't do something."

Negi turned to Asuna when Takamichi and gave her a look which only said, "Stay out of this."

With Negi momentarily distracted Takeda took this opportunity to grab his fractured arm. Negi flinched slightly but look back at his opponent with loathing. 'What the hell is up with this kid,' thought Takeda. 'I thought he said he fractured his arm.'

Negi pulled back his fist again and punched but Takeda blocked it easily. "Don't expect to catch me off guard again."

Jumping backwards Negi chanted, "Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister: _Undecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis!* _

Takeda erected a water barrier and absorbed the lightning. With the water spinning he chanted, "Dia Diam Dila Diliam: _Unda ut adveho ex polus. Somniculouse meus hostilis profundus. Uranicus turbo."*_

Takeda sent a water infused spell which hit Negi directly in the chest send him sprawling backwards. Negi's head hit the opposite wall with a smack that sent a shiver down Asuna's spine. Negi fell to the floor in a heap and started coughing up blood. 'Kusu, I don't have enough strength to beat this guy.'

Negi tried standing up but Takeda used Shundo to close the distance between the two and lifted Negi up by the throat. "Heh your not strong at all. Quite weak really. And to think you were called the reincarnation of the thousand master."

At his opponents words Negi felt boiling hatred inside of him. "Never compare me to my father." Negi put his hand out and released the delay spell he had started earlier."

"_Sagitta Magica! Convergentia Fulgurālis!"*_

Instead of multiple arrows of lightning one giant one hit Takeda in the chest knocking the wind out of him. The blow sent him flying back against the wall but this time he broke through it and crashed in the adjacent room sending papers every where.

Negi was now standing though rather wobbly on his knees. Cough up a little more blood he thought, 'This is not good. My arm is fractured and now something might be wrong with me inside. Shit I might have to use that spell.' Negi coughed a little more and looked down at his hands to see crimson. Taking a deep breath he started chanting.

"Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister: _εγώ καλώ επάνω the αρχαίος ο οποίος ψέμα dormant εσωτερικός του my σώμα. σκοτεινιά ο οποίος έχει έχτισα πάνω εσωτερικός του εμένα. εγώ καλώ επάνω επισκευάζω με ζημιά σώμα.-"_

Takamichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'That spell...how did he learn something like that. Kusu I can't let him finish that.' Turning to Asuna he said loudly, "Asuna-san, quick stop him before he finishes that spell. Its very dangerous."

Asuna was shocked at being called on to do something. "But I-"

"Don't think," Takamichi almost shouted at her, "Just stop him somehow."

Asuna through caution to the wind and darted towards Negi who was still chanting.

"**-**_επισκευάζω καταστρέφω χαρτομάντηλο και κόκκαλο σε αυτοί κάποτε λυκάνθρωπος. εγώ δίνω my δικός ζωή δύναμη ότι μπορώ συμβαίνει-"* _Suddenly Negi was frozen in mid sentence when he felt Asuna's arms wrap around his chest.

"Negi...don't please."

"Get off Asuna-san," Negi said rather forcefully.

"No I won't let go of you. If your doing something that will harm yourself I wont allow it."

"Asuna-san you don't understand!"

"I don't care. I'm not losing you."

"Asuna-san....." Negi felt himself relax slightly and fell to the floor coughing.

"NEGI."

"Don't worry I can make it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Something flew past Asuna and kicked Negi in the chest. Standing up Takeda said, "I have no idea what the spell was but it doesn't seem like your in any shape to try it again. Now then." He grabbed Asuna by the arm and dragged her over to him. "It seems that you and this girl have a strong relationship. Whether its friendly or not I don't care. But now I've got something to barter with you."

Negi was attempting to stand up fury all over his face, "Give Asuna-san back damn you."

Takeda shook his finger at Negi. "I don't think I will. Maybe I'll keep her for myself." Now he caressed her chin slightly, "She's rather cute you know."

Something inside of Negi snapped when he heard his words and in an instant he had appeared next to Takeda. Takeda thought but only for a second, "Shundo," before Negi grabbed his head and drove it into the ground cracking the wood. Negi could feel the blood pounding in his ears. The nerve he had of touching one of his students like that. He could forgive a lot of abuse to himself but he could not allow someone to treat his students like an object. Negi summoned the remainder of his power and chanted the highest spell he knew.

"Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister:_ Veniant Spīritūs Āeriālēs Fulgurientēs! Cum Fulgurātiōne Flet Tempestās Austrīna! Jovis Tempestās Fulguriēns!"*_

Negi was still holding onto Takeda's head when he released his spell. The combination of wind and lightning hit Takeda with such force that he was pushed through the ceiling and crashed down several floors before he landed in a heap. Negi had jumped out of the way so that he hadn't fallen with him and was now leaning up against the deans desk who had hardly moved through out the fight.

The guards who had been confining Takamichi released the barrier and rushed to helper their leader. Though Takamichi was to fast for them and he grabbed them by the back of their shirts and said, "I don't think so," before driving a fist into each of their backs making them go limp.

Asuna had rushed over to Negi's side and was now smirking at the look on his face, "You overdid it baka, and I told you not to."

"Well, at least everything is fine now." Negi closed his eyes and said, "I think I'll take a little nap now if you don't mind Asuna-san." With that Negi passed out form exhaustion.

* * *

It had been several hours since the end of the fight and Asuna and Takamichi were both sitting around Negi's bed. The entire class had wanted to see him but Takamichi forbade them. "Not until he's at least conscious will I let you see him." Some of them had grumbled about this and the fact that Asuna was allowed to be next to him.

"Hey Takahata-sensei," asked Asuna while she continued to look at Negi's sleeping face.

"Hmm?"

"I thought Negi loved his dad. But why did he get so angry when his dad was mentioned."

"Well, Negi has always been rather touchy about his dad. Part of him admires him for who he is, a fellow mage. Though the other half hates him for leaving him alone for so many years."

"Alone? I thought he had Anya."

"Oh so you already know about Anya. I see he didn't leave much out." Asuna nodded.

"Well, he didn't meet Anya until he started going to the magical academy. When he was still young he had no friends and all the people in the village loathed him for who he was, the son of the thousand master. They always said that he would become a loose cannon that they wouldn't be able to control."

"Negi blamed his father for leaving him alone. He began to hate his father for abandoning him when he was young. Though as he may have told you on a certain night demons attacked his village and someone who looked remarkably like him saved him from dying. He claimed that he was Negi's father and told him that one day when he was older he would find him when he became a Magister Magi."

"Negi took those words to heart and entered the magic academy. You might have heard that his grandfather was the headmaster there. Well, Negi was excepted immediately because of who his father was. Negi hated that but soon proved that he was just as much a promising mage as his father. Soon he became rather well known in the school even in his freshman years and became known as an expert duelist, even among the older students."

"Though Negi still didn't talk to people much. Most of the time he spent in the library pouring over books about magical artifacts, history, and of course spells. I think that he became something like a second teacher among the students in his class. It seemed that he thought if he learned more spells he would be closer to his father. Though I am surprised that he would even consider learning a forbidden spell."

"Err forbidden spell," asked Asuna. "What's that?"

"Just like the name implies its forbidden for a certain reason." Takamichi sighed and said, "In this case its because of the fact that in return for the spell repairing damaged tissue and bones the caster has to give a portion of their life force to use it. Depending on how serious the injury is more life force is required."

"What is life force though?"

"In simple terms its how long we have to life. By using his own life force he shortens the years in which he is allowed to live."

Asuna starred horror struck back at Takamichi. "So then if I hadn't have stopped him he would have lived as long."

"Basically," sighed Takamichi.

The next few seconds were hectic. Takamichi had to stop Asuna from pummeling the crap out of Negi while he slept. "That complete baka, how dare he try to pull something like that. I. WILL. NOT. FORGIVE. HIM."

"Asuna calm down or your gonna wake him."

Suddenly they both froze as they looked over and saw Negi blinking back at them rather surprised. "Asuna-san I've never seen you act like this around Takamichi. Don't tell me you finall-"

Asuna jumped on him and covered his mouth with her hand, "SHUT IT."

Takamichi was looking back at them with a curious look on his face. "Well, I've got to go sort some things out relating to the attack so I'll leave you two alone for now. Don't be to hard on him Asuna-san."

"Hai."

Takamichi now left and left the two alone in an awkward silence.

Finally speaking up Negi said, "So I assume he told you everything. About me and my father, and that spell that I tried to use."

"Yeah."

"I-I didn't get the chance to say this earlier but...thank you Asuna-san, for stopping me. I didn't really want to use it but I didn't see any other option."

Asuna responded by pounding him on the head. "Baka don't make me worry. And under no circumstances are you allowed to use that spell. Your not even allowed to think about it."

"Heh, yes mom."

Asuna raised an eyebrow at him and Negi was about to take it back when she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him into a small hug while she rested her chin on his shoulders. "Your welcome Negi, and thank you for worrying about me. Also taking care of that hentai. If you hadn't have stepped in I probably would have bitten him."

"Maybe I should have, he would have deserved it."

"Yes, but I'm glad what you did....thanks."

It was a rather awkward moment when they broke apart but they were interrupted when the hospital door was thrown open and most of Negi's class poured in. Ayaka was the first to get to Negi's bed and grabbed Asuna by the shirt and said, "Ah I knew something like this was going to happen if I wasn't here. What were you doing looking all glassy eyed at Negi-sensei. Go follow Takahata-sensei around if you want to be with someone."

"Iincho-san calm yourself nothing happened," said Asuna.

Ayaka however was now ignoring her and turned to Negi. "Negi-sensei your okay. Oh I almost collapsed when I heard you were injured."

"Yeah Negi-kun what happened," asked Ako.

Negi smiled and said, "Oh nothing much. I just got a little injured while protecting Asuna-san."

The rest of the class turned in Asuna's direction. Asuna was blushing slightly and looking at Negi with fire in her eyes. 'Your dead Negi,' she mouthed at him.

He simply smiled and looked out the window.

* * *

Takamichi was walking back towards Negi's hospital room when he heard a loud shriek from Ayaka.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU AND ASUNA-SAN WERE ALONE AT NIGHT IN SOME HOUSE."

Takamichi turned immediately and walked in the opposite direction. 'He's gonna have difficulties explaining all this to his class.'

* * *

Outside of Negi's window a certain white haired boy was floating in mid air above his window listening to the commotion coming from inside.

"Negi Springfield and Asuna Kagurazaka, quite an interesting pair," he whispered. "Though for now they can relax. They'll have to deal with me sooner or later." With that he vanished into the wind.

* * *

A/N: Spell list

1. Let the 17 Spirits of the Air that Have Become a Chain Capture the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Binding Air!

2. Let the 11 Gathering Spirits of the Air Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Lightning Series!

3. Water that comes from the heavens. Drown my enemies in the deeps of the ocean. Heavenly whirlpool. (My own creation)

4. Magic Arrow! Convergence of Lightning!

5. ( First Part) I call upon the ancient power which lie dormant inside of my body. Darkness which has built up inside of me. I call upon thee to repair my damaged body. (Second Part) Repair the damage tissue and bones to what they once were. I give my own life force so that this may happen. (Note: This is the first two parts of this spell. I plan on having it have at least three more sentences in its complete form.)

6. Let the Air and Lightning Spirits Come! Let the Southern Storm Blow with Lightning! Jupiter's Thunderstorm!


	6. Shopping Mayhem

**Sorry bout the wait. Even though I'm taking term of this semester of school it seems like its more time consuming looking for a job than actually going to school. Though I'll admit that I've also been a bit lazy about working on my stories again. Now that I'm back in the swing of things it should be a lot sooner. And I got to say that thanks to chapter 284 of Negima AsunaXNegi chances are alive once again. Wont say anything else incase some ppl haven't read it yet.**

* * *

Several weeks had passed since the incident with the faction of the Kansai Magic Association. Negi still had close to four more week to prepare his students for their final exams.

Negi was sitting at the desk in his, Asuna's, and Konoka's room, going over all of his classes quizzes that he had repetitively been giving them. Truth be they hadn't improved much since he had started teaching them. He was now frowning down at the scores of the Baka Rangers.

'Well,' he thought. 'If these five could improve their test scores a little bit then we would have a much better chance of passing the exams.'

He now looked down at Asuna's test scores. She had been rather sporadically with her test scores but she was at least trying now. 'Good thing she doesn't know that whether the class passes or not will determine if I stay here.'

Negi now leaned back in his chair feeling bored and balanced his pencil on the end of his noes. 'Well, at least there is still four more weeks till finals so I shouldn't be to worried about finals yet. A lot can happen in four weeks. Though I've been getting an idea that my class is starting to get annoyed that I keep on assigning them pop quizzes.'

Suddenly he felt a hand on the back of his shoulder. Becoming startled he leaned back a little to far and felt his head hit something and heard a surprised and angry yell. Negi fell backwards with Asuna behind him and fell on top of her chest, though he didn't realize it was her yet.

Soon Negi was blinking up at the ceiling, still unaware of what happened. Then he heard a rather angry snarl and turned his head around to find his forehead brushing against Asuna's.

Negi's mouthed opened in a comical gasp only to aware that moments ago his head had been resting on her chest.

"Err, hey...Asuna-san."

Asuna blinked back at him with a passive look on her face, though Negi thought he saw a brief bit of crimson appear on her cheeks.

"Negi, if you don't mind I'd appreciate it if you got off me."

"What...oh yeah, sorry Asuna-san."

Negi pushed himself off of her and into a sitting position. Looking back at her afraid that she would start yelling at him he was surprised to see her blush a little and stammer out a question.

"Don't get..the wrong idea baka Negi, but....me and Konoka were going to go downtown and well...she asked I didn't....so, do you want to go with us?"

Negi continued sitting in his position on the floor thinking that he must have a build of ear wax clogging his ear drum. When he remained silent Asuna took this as him saying no and turned to go.

"Of course I figured that you would prefer staying in this stuffy room plodding away at your grade book stuff. Well, whatever, me and Konoka are going out...be back whenever." Asuna turned now towards the door and got a hand on the knob when she heard someone chuckle and grab her wrist at the same time. Turning around she saw Negi smirking at her.

"Heh, like I'd prefer staying here, grading papers and musing over...well, never mind. Anyway I've got nothing better to do really so I might as well go with you and Konoka."

Asuna couldn't help it, she smiled. "Great I'll go tell her...you get ready then," she said looking him up and down. "If I'm gonna be out in public with you I don't want you to be dressing in your work clothes."

"What are they to flashy for daily use?"

"No, I just don't want to be reminded of your usual stuck up teacher personality, go with something casual for once."

"Hai, Hai," said Negi as he walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower and change.

* * *

Thirty minutes later Negi, Asuna, and Konoka were all pilled together on the train that would take them into downtown Mahora. Negi wished they hadn't gone during rush hour. Asuna and Konoka were pressed up against him and it was making him uncomfortable. What's more he had read somewhere about perverts hanging out on the trains looking to grope woman.

"Hey Negi-kun why do you look so nervous," asked Konoka?

Negi shrugged and said he didn't feel nervous. Truth was he was scanning the train for anybody that might make a move towards Asuna and Konoka. If they tried anything he wouldn't forgive them. One thing he could never forgive and that was men that took advantage of woman in any way. Suddenly he thought he heard a rather angry yell. Looking over the top of Asuna's head he saw a commotion further down the train and saw a woman give a startled gasp as a man brushed by her.

Negi narrowed his eyes and watched as the man got closer to himself and the girls. Negi thought that he had spotted Asuna and was now angling over to her. Negi's eyes bored into the man's skull and he seemed to stop, sensing the death glare that he was getting. Looking to the left of Asuna's shoulder he saw Negi giving him a glare that could shatter ice. Freezing in mid step he looked back at Negi's direction and grimaced at him before mouthing, 'Lucked out, punk.'

The pervert turned around and walked to the other side of the train. Negi immediately relaxed, he had been prepared to risk a bit of magic to put the pervert in his place. Asuna noticed the calming of Negi's shoulders when he slouched slightly. "Negi what's wrong? You seem as though you've just been relieved of something."

Negi shrugged again and said it was nothing.

* * *

Glad that the train ride was over Negi immediately darted off the train and stood up to look around. The downtown of Mahora was filled with so many flashing lights that it made Negi's head hurt. Being raised in a small town in England had many let downs, one of which was lack of urbanization.

Asuna on the pretext of retying her shoes pulled Negi aside while Konoka checked the map of downtown.

"Asuna-san what are you-" Negi asked as Asuna pulled him off to one side.

"You know perfectly well what I want to know. Why were you so tense on the train?"

"Oh...that."

"It seemed like something had seriously angered you and not much can get you angry, so what was it."

Negi stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around not wanting to meet Asuna's eyes. "If you must know there was a pervert that was trying to make a move on you. Though he saw me and decided not to risk it. I guess he thought that I was...your boyfriend."

Asuna's mouth refused to stay closed for several seconds. "So you scared some pervert off then?"

"I guess...if you want to see it that way."

"I'm not sure whether to be glad for what you did or pissed at him thinking we were dating."

"Yeah..stupid," replied Negi.

The two of them looked around trying to avoid each others eyes but failing many times. Whether on purpose or not though, neither of them knew.

Several seconds later Konoka came running up to them.

"OK Asuna, Negi-kun I've found all the places that we wanted to...am I interrupting something here," asked Konoka frowning at the two?

"Nope," said Asuna.

"Not at all," replied Negi.

Konoka continued frowning at the two of them but then her frown turned into a smirk. "If you two say so."

* * *

Asuna was sick of waking up every morning to see Negi in his dress pants and shirt.

'Really,' she thought as she dragged him into a mens department store, 'he needs to dress more casual when he's out in public.'

Negi meanwhile was tugging on her arm repetitively, "Asuna-san I told you I don't need to be buying casual clothes. I'm fine with what I've got."

"Well, I'm not," she retorted back, "if I have to spend time with you outside of school then you're going to have to look your not a stuck up tightwad."

"I thought you liked old men like Takamichi."

Asuna wheeled around and hit him on the top of the head. "Take that back baka. Takahata-sensei is not an old man...he's just middle aged."

"By my standards and most girls your age, I think Takamichi counts as an old man."

Negi would have received another blow to the head if Konoka hadn't stepped in between them. "OK you two enough bickering. You do that enough at school that people will think that your a couple"

Konoka didn't realize the impact of this statement which sent a dark red blush across both Asuna's and Negi's cheeks. Plodding on she continued. "Besides we're supposed to be having fun while we shop, so the least you could do is stop fighting for the rest of the day."

Asuna and Negi looked back at each other an annoyed look across both of their faces.

"Fine," said Asuna.

Negi simply shrugged and felt a grip under his arm and looked to his left to see Konoka dragging him and Asuna into the store.

* * *

It was a bit embarrassing for Negi having Asuna and Konoka choosing clothes for him. Most of the other men in the store were sending him funny looks as though asking him which one was his mother and which one was his girlfriend. Negi just wanted to grab something and leave.

After many different tries of clothes which included, dark bagging blue jeans along with a tee-shirt with a picture of a red skull on the front Negi finally found something that he relatively liked.

Asuna had found him a dark black shirt with red patches on the shoulders, while Konoka had found a lightly faded blue pair of jeans that fit rather nicely around his waist. Asuna had tried to make him wear a beanie to go along with everything but Negi refused thinking it looked stupid.

He was now looking at himself in the mirror. If he had to admit it he thought that their choices in clothes was rather well done. It seemed like something he would have chosen himself if he wasn't with them. Turning to the two of them who were waiting patiently for his response he said, "This is actually rather nice you two. I think I'll take it."

"Actually," asked Asuna with a raised eyebrow? "What, you think we don't have good taste in clothes or something?"

"No, no thats not what I ment," said Negi waving his arms and trying to repair the damage that he had already done.

Konoka let out a sigh and walked away to let them bicker again. 'Ah jeez,' she thought when she was far enough away to not hear their angry voices. 'Those two argue more than anybody I've ever seen. Makes me wonder sometimes if they even realize how close they are. Well, they'll figure it out sooner or later.'

"Hey Konoka!"

Konoka turned around to see Asuna dragging a rather reluctant Negi who was back in the clothes he had brought with him and his new pair of jeans and shirt slung over his shoulder.

"Lets pay for these and go some where else," said Asuna. "I'm getting sick of listening to this kid complain."

"Kid? I'm actually older than you Asuna."

"Oh shut it Negi."

Konoka sighed and followed the two of them up to the register.

* * *

"Hey Asuna where should we go now," asked Konoka as the trio walked out of the mens department store?

"Hmm," hummed Asuna thoughtfully. Thinking of an idea she smiled over in Negi's direction and whispered something to Konoka. Konoka looked at her when she was done whispering to her and looked over at Negi also who this time raised his eyebrow a little.

"Heh, OK....As-u-na."

Soon Negi found out what they had been whispering about and had his back turned promptly away from the front of the store.

"Absolutely not," he said stubbornly.

"Ah c'mon Negi," said Asuna. "Its not like their is anything wrong going into that kind of store."

"Maybe not for you but for me....anyways junior high school girls shouldn't even need to go into that," he turned his head and eyed the building a little before turning away, "Type of store yet," he finished.

"Ah Negi-kun its just for fun," said Konoka.

"Its bad enough that you want to go in there but dragging me in their with you is something that I can't tolerate."

"Don't be a baby Negi its not like were gonna buy anything," said Asuna starting to get annoyed

"Than why the hell would you want to go in there in the first," Negi almost shouted.

Both Asuna and Konoka were taken aback by his outburst, though Asuna was silently laughing that he seemed to be so nervous about going into a woman's lingerie store.

"Negi you baka, I'm dragging you in if I have to."

Asuna now had to chase after Negi so as to stop him from running away. The entire time Konoka was watching and laughing and both of their stupidity. 'Really,' she thought. 'They seem like they enjoy it when they get into arguments like this. I haven't seen Asuna this happy in a long time. Not since Takahata-sensei became our home room teacher for those two years.'

Finally Asuna managed to grab Negi around the waist and dragged him over to Konoka.

"You grab his legs I've got his arms. Lets get this baka in there."

Konoka smiled and said, "Whatever you want Asuna.

When they walked through the threshold of the store Asuna let go of Negi's arms and Konoka dropped his legs in surprise. Negi landed on the floor and was soon rubbing his head. Forgetting momentarily where he was he looked up at Asuna a bit annoyed at what she had done. "What was that for Asuna-san?"

"Baka, if you think I'm carrying you around while we're here your wrong. Now come here." She grabbed his hand and steered him around the store keeping a firm grip on his wrist so that he wouldn't try to run. Negi was somewhat thankful that she was leading him around. He had shut his eyes firmly when he saw some rather...interesting articles and it shocked his mind and reminded him where he was. Though he could feel the glares and silent bits of laughter every now and then. He must look stupid to all the other woman in there who were almost certainly in their late teens and early twenties.

Negi felt Asuna stop in front of him and in his momentary surprise felt himself walk into her.

"Sorry Asuna-san," said Negi with one eye half open.

She shrugged it off and now changed her attention to an article close to her. Konoka followed her gaze and now Negi found himself looking up at the ceiling. However unfortunately for him their was a mirror over him that showed the part of the store that he was in so once again he was forced to close her eyes.

'Ah if I knew that this is what was gonna happen I would rather have stayed home and graded papers.'

Hearing Asuna say something to Konoka he changed his attention to their voices.

"What do you think Konoka...in another five years or so?"

"Not at the rate of growth that your experiencing Asuna."

"KONOKA," said Asuna loudly. "Jeez way to embarrass me in front of Negi."

Negi now felt himself turn slightly red and wished more than ever that he was someplace else.

Soon though to his horror it got worse. Apparently thanks to Konoka's insult Asuna now wanted to try what she chosen. Negi was still looking away but heard Asuna's voice from behind him. "Negi don't you dare try to take off while I'm in the changing booth. If you do I'll kill you," she said as she gave him a little push in his back."

Negi groaned and turned his attention to Konoka but immediately wished he hadn't. She was holding something black up in front of her face and Negi quickly changed the focus of his eyes somewhere else.

"Hey Asuna I think I'll try this on then since your trying something also."

"Fine by me," said Asuna. "Remember baka Negi don't take off or I won't forgive you."

While they were in the changing rooms Negi reflected on this entire thing. He now knew that Asuna had been meaning to embarrass him the entire time and what she had whispered to Konoka earlier about. He now was worried that she would further embarrass him by asking his opinion on whatever she had chosen. What made it worse was almost every woman in the store was now eyeing him curiously since he was technically alone now. 'Ah this couldn't get any worse,' he thought...he was sorely wrong.

"Ne-Ne-NEGI-SENSEI," came a loud shriek from somewhere to his left.

Wheeling around Negi saw that the situation had just gotten a lot worse. Ayaka, Ako, and Chizuru Naba were all standing a few feet away from him with bags over their shoulders. Negi was about to take a step back when Ayaka jumped from where she stood and this time landed successfully in Negi's arms who unwillingly caught her.

Ako and Chizuru were both unsurprised by Ayaka's performance and walked up to Negi and dragged her off of him.

Grateful that the two of them had helped him he stood up now, trying not to look embarrassed and asked, "What are you girls doing here?"

"That seems like a more suitable question for you Negi-kun," said Chizuru.

Negi was about to make up some excuse when a loud bang sounded to his right.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE BAKA NEGI."

Asuna had flung open the door to her changing room door and in bounced off the wall and almost came flying back to hit her in the face, but she held out a hand to stop it. If Negi was embarrassed before it was nothing compared to now. He felt like his face had reached boiling point and was about to explode. Asuna had come out in a state of half undress wearing part of what she had chosen but still wearing the pants that she had come with.

Asuna however had frozen when she had come out of the changing room completely forgetting about Negi.

"IINCHO-SAN, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?"

Ayaka immediately fired up and retorted. "I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT ASUNA-SAN. WHY ARE YOU IN A WOMAN UNDERWEAR STORE WITH NEGI?" She didn't realize that Konoka was with them also since she hadn't come out of the changing room yet.

Asuna starting blushing and opened her mouth several times before closing it unable to say anything. At that moment a white blur flashed past the girls and the next second Negi thought he would die from blood loss.

The white blur had stripped the girls of their clothes leaving nothing but their undergarments, and in Asuna's case a little less. Negi felt the blood spew out of his noes and start dripping down into his openly gapping mouth. Trying to stem the flow slightly he unwillingly looked up when he heard an angry snarl from Asuna.

Asuna had one arm covering the front of her chest while the other hand seemed to have the white thing pinned against the wall. Whatever it was it was squeaking frantically as though it was about to die from suffocation. Wishing more than ever that he had brought his cloak with him Negi quickly grabbed the nearest thing within his grasp which was a very short tang top and tossed it in Asuna's direction. Negi heard a slight mumble of thanks before he turned around.

Soon Negi was allowed to face the girls when everything was under control. Konoka had finally come out of her changing room but was immediately ordered to go back in and dress properly by Negi. Huffing slightly at his rudeness Konoka went back in and changed quickly. When she came back out Asuna explained what had happened to them while she was changing.

"And then this thing came out of nowhere and just...stripped us."

Konoka bent over Asuna's hand to get a better look at the white thing. "It looks like some kind of rodent."

Asuna let out a shriek and immediately tossed it away from her where it hit the wall and landed in a heap. Soon Asuna was chasing after it all over the store trying to stomp on it with her foot. Most of the other customers had been following the entire situation and many of them where now openly pointing and laughing at the white rodent....and Negi.

Much to Negi's displeasure the white rodent soon skidded to a halt, dodging another one of Asuna's feet in the process, and darted over to Negi. When it got close enough Negi saw that it had some brown on its tail. 'Chamo-kun,' he thought before it grabbed onto his pant leg, trailing up it before he hid behind his neck.

Asuna skidded to a halt in front of Negi slightly out of breath and looked at him for a second. "Give it here," she said forcefully while holding her hand out.

"Asuna-san...wait uh...this isn't the best time for...this."

"Are you making excuses for that rodent."

"First, its not a rodent its an ermine."

Asuna narrowed her eyes, "How do you seem to know that so well." She now put her hands on her hips.

"Well...I think that he might be...err....my pet." He couldn't say who Chamo really was in front of everybody so he hoped that Asuna would except the lie for now.

"Your pet," Asuna said a little bit to calmly for Negi nerves.

"Yeah..."

"So you mean to tell me that you trained him to strip girls clothes."

Before Negi could open his mouth in reply Asuna slapped him with all her strength across his face. "NEGI YOU HENTAI."

Negi was sent flying to the ground with a loud thud. All around him shocked woman let out audible gasps which seemed to make it even worse.

"Did you here what that young man did...he's disgusting, training a ferret type thing to do something like that."

"His girlfriend seemed outraged at that."

"I would to though if it was me."

The talks of Asuna being his girlfriend just seemed to make it worse. Before Negi could do much more than sit up though he realized that Asuna had already left the store. Just as he was standing up Negi saw Konoka standing over him holding a hand out to him. Trying to force a smile he took it and with her help and stood up.

"Um Konoka-san..about this-"

"Don't worry about it Negi. Give Asuna some time to cool off and she'll forgive you."

She'd need a lot of time to cool of since he still had a lot to tell her about Chamo. "Yeah but what do you think of...my perverted ermine."

"I can't see you as the type that would purposefully teach him to do that."

"...Thanks Konoka-san."

"Well, we've still got a lot of time left so we might as well enjoy ourselves while there is still daylight."

"Yeah I guess so."

Konoka now turned to Ayaka, Ako, and Chizuru. "Since Asuna has taken off do you want to tag along with us. It'd be more fun instead of just me and Negi-kun."

Ayaka jumped at the opportunity to be with Negi outside of class.

The rest of the afternoon was surprisingly calm for Negi. They went to several shops and though Ayaka tried to ambush him alone in a few of them everything else was fine. He even payed for their meals that they had gotten when it was close to dinner. Though he kept on being bothered by Asuna's angry face every time he started thinking for long.

* * *

When six o'clock rolled around everybody went their separate ways. Ayaka, Ako, and Chizuru said by to Negi and Konoka when they had left the train and Ayaka blew Negi a kiss, though he pretended he didn't see it. When Negi and Konoka were nearing the dormitories Konoka remembered that she had something that she promised Nodoka and Yue to help with when she came back from shopping and rushed over to library Island. Negi figured though that she wanted to give him time alone with Asuna, which was good because he had a lot to tell her.

When Negi first entered the dorm room he thought that she might still be gone since the lights were off, but a slight movement from the bunk beds told him that she was feigning sleep.

"Konoka is that you," said a sleepy Asuna.

Negi didn't say anything as he closed the door without turning on the light. Asuna now figuring who it was didn't pursue the subject and rolled back over.

Negi sat down on the couch and Chamo who had been inside his shirt pocket for most of the time now jumped down, stretched out on the sofa and took out a cigarette and started smoking it. Negi frowned at his usual behavior with his noes wrinkling and looked over to where the outline of the covers that was Asuna.

'Any minute now,' he thought, 'she's gonna smell something and-'

"Negi, are you smoking," came Asuna's voice acknowledging his presence for the first time?

'And there it is,' he thought, 'best to get the worst of it over I guess.'

"Well, not me."

Negi now saw that Asuna had sat upright and looked over to where his voice was.

"Turn on the light already baka."

"If you say so, but try not to be to surprised at what you see."

Negi now stood up and walked calming over to the wall and braced himself for what was to come as he flicked the light switch on. It was almost instant. A loud crashing noise came from somewhere behind him and an even louder, "AHHHHHHHHH."

Negi turned around unsurprised to see Asuna sprawled on the ground, entangled in the covers. Apparently she had fallen out of bed when she saw Chamo smoking a cigarette.

"WHY IS THAT DISGUSTING, PERVERTED ANIMAL DOING IN THIS ROOM AND FURTHER MORE WHY IS HE SMOKING? DID YOU TEACH HIM THAT ALSO?"

"Asuna...look there's a lot more to Chamo than what I said back then in the....well store."

"MEANING WHAT."

"Well....err."

"Oi Aniki, maybe it would be best if I just answered for you, though seeing as I just did."

At the sound of his voice Asuna turned her head very slowly to Chamo who was standing up on his two back legs with the cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

"Heya...Ane-san."

Asuna backed up all the way and crashed into the wall with a resounding thud. "Wh-Wha-IT TALKS.

"Well, of course I talk. Wouldn't be much help as a familiar if I couldn't talk. Don't know a word of sign language."

"But you...you-" Asuna now turned to Negi. "Explain....now."

"I'm not even sure where to start Asuna-san. I haven't seen Chamo-kun since I left England."

"Than how the hell did he get here."

"Ah it was a daring story," said Chamo. "One filled with adventure and fright, something not suitable for your ears Ane-san."

"Like I'd care anyway," said Asuna. "So why are you here in the first place."

"Ah, thats to help with finding Aniki's partne-"

Negi hastily ran over to Chamo and put a hand over his mouth to stop him from finishing the sentence, though Asuna got the gist of it.

"Partner," said Asuna quietly. "Do you mean to tell me that while at this school you're supposed to be looking for a partner, namely female, and that your using this perverted ermine which you trained-"

Negi cut her off. "Hang on Asuna-san, for one I didn't train Chamo-kun to do that. Its a habit of his, a rather bad habit which embarrassed me a lot earlier," said Negi narrowing his eyes at Chamo who looked the other way. "And second when I left England I told Chamo-kun here to stay behind. Worrying about a partner is not what I was supposed to be doing here. I'm here to teach and thats it. Though now that I think about it why are you here Chamo-kun, you didn't get in trouble for stealing underwear again, did you?"

"No such thing Aniki. I got a letter from Anya-chan asking me to help you find a partner. She seemed to think that you might have some difficulties. She said that she had found a candidate and told me that she didn't want you left behind in the dust. Though it seems to me that you've got a wide variety of choices judging by what I saw earlier." Here his gaze moved over to Asuna and his eyes twinkled a little. Asuna getting the message promptly sat down on his tail making him yell.

"OK, OK I was kidding."

"Hmph."

Negi now saw down on the couch next to Asuna with Chamo resting on his shoulders. Soon Chamo was whispering something in his ear which made Negi jump off the couch quickly and blush rather embarrassed.

"No absolutely not. Not with a student."

"Ah come on Aniki its as easy as one, two, three, smoooooch."

"WHAT," yelled a surprised Asuna.

"Ah Ane-san its how you become partners. Just a simple long, deep, kiss to the lips and the contract is fulfilled. I was just telling Aniki here about making a contract with y-"

Before he could continue Negi now stomped on his tail, sending him skidding over to Asuna, and climbed onto her shoulder.

"Aniki its not like she'd object or anything."

"It. Can't. Happen."

"What are you two idiots talking about," asked Asuna.

"Simple Ane-san," and Chamo whispering something in her ear which made Asuna turn scarlet.

"WHA-WHAT partners with me, absolutely not."

"I told you Chamo-kun it's not possible. For starters we'd be arguing with each other the entire time while the enemy attacked us."

"Aniki, Aniki, don't you know what every strong relationship has to have a strong foundation, and her knowing about your magic is as close as you can get to strong in this case. Besides.....when you two yell at each other looks to me as if sparks fly. I was watching some of the early stuff and I got to sa-"

This time both Negi and Asuna stomped on Chamo tail flattening it perfectly this time.

"Ah Aniki I'm here to help you. You should at least hear what I have to say."

"I have and I don't like it. Neither does Asuna-san, and I don't blame her. So don't ask us anymore."

Chamo now shrugged and put out his cigarette. "Fine theirs plenty of other choices. That blonde chick for instance. Definitely got the hots for you Aniki. Wouldn't be a bad choice. Well, I'm off to do some scouting of possible candidates. You two behave yourselves now."

Asuna would have kicked him but this time Negi stopped her. "Your wasting your time," Negi called after him as he left."

With the door shut Negi and Asuna were left in an awkward silence after everything that had just happened.

"My head hurts," Asuna said suddenly.

"And with good reason," replied Negi.

Asuna threw him a look but crawled back into bed.

"Hey..um Negi."

"Hmm?"

"Do...partners...I mean...is it like marriage."

"No, not really. Since I've never experienced a contract I can't tell you but from what I've read the Minister Magi...well for all intended purposes me, lets the partner borrow their power. There is a lot of other stuff involved which I can't remember but in most cases the partners usually get married. Though I'm not able to have a full fledged contract yet. I can only have provisional ones.

"When are you able to have a real contract?"

"Not till I'm a Magister Magi or eighteen, which ever comes first."

"I see." After this both of them were silent for a while.

"Hey Negi."

"If its more questions I'd rather wait till tomorrow. After everything that happened today my head hurts also."

"No, I just wanted to say...sorry...about hitting you early today, and yelling at you."

Negi paused for a minute before he said, "S'Okay."

* * *

Several hours later Konoka came back to the dorm and was unsurprised to see Negi passed out on the couch and Asuna likewise in her bed.

"Looks like everything is back to normal," whispered Konoka as she crawled into bed.


	7. Date and Fight

**OK here is chapter seven. I don't have a hell of a lot to say about this but there is something I want to say. I just got done reading Love Hina again and watching the anime and it made me think about doing a crossover of Negi and Love Hina. Its still a ways away from getting started since i've got other stories I'm working on beside this one. But the basis of it for what I've thought of so far is that Asuna and Negi are childhood friends and the same go's for Naru and Kietaro. I don't want to go to much into detail yet a lot of things will probably change but they'll both be trying to get Toudai at least I think. As I said I'm still thinking about it but most likely the couplings will end of NaruXNegi and AsunaXKietaro. Let me no what you think of this and I'll think on it a little more**

* * *

Negi woke up the next morning to something tickling his noes. Opening his eyes a little more than they already were he saw Chamo brandishing his tail in his face.

"Aniki, wake up I've got lots to tell you from last nights find."

Negi rolled over and said, "Later Chamo-kun, I'd rather continue sleeping."

Chamo now jumped off the side of his back and ran over to his face shoving several pictures in Negi's face. "But look I've found a candidate for your partner."

Negi's eyes flew open at that. "What you think you found one, where....wait its not a student is it?"

Chamo grinned at him and said, "See for yourself."

Negi now sat up all the way and looked at the photos that Chamo had tossed on his lap, though he immediately wished that he didn't. Apparently Chamo had ventured into the girls bath and taken a picture of every girl. Negi had a suspicion that it wasn't so much looking for a partner, and he couldn't see how a photo could determine his partner, but a ploy for Chamo to get into the girls bath.

Negi tossed the photos into the nearest wastepaper basket sending a frown over Chamo's face. "Aniki," he said as he fished them out, "do you have any idea how long it took to get those photos perfect. I had several bad shots since the angle wasn't quite what I was looking for. I must have gone through at least a hundred rolls of film to get you that."

"Yeah, and I noticed it was only of my class."

"Well, of course, it had to be your class. There the only ones that are around you so much so there's got to be some connection there....like....this one," he said pointing at random. He hadn't even looked for that matter.

His paw had landed on Nodoka.

"Really Chamo-kun, Nodoka? I've always got the impression that she was afraid of me, though I've heard she's been afraid of every male teacher to date so its nothing knew."

"No seriously Aniki I heard her talking about you in the bathhouse to the other girls," said Chamo thinking of a lie on the spot.

"Even if she was the right girl she's a student which means off limits. Now take those...photos and throw them away, before Asuna-san sees them."

"What photos don't you want me to see Negi?"

Negi turned his head slowly to see Asuna coming into the dorm fully dressed. Apparently she had just come back from her paper route.

"Nothing Asuna-san."

Asuna could sense the lie in his voice and pushed the subject walking over to him. Throwing a frown at Chamo she said, "What photos don't you want me to see, and it better not be anything inappropriate.

Negi now knew that he was in trouble and thought to wing it. "Well, its just a photo that Chamo found. You know when we were...in the bathhouse together. Apparently Asakura-san decided to print a few photos that she had taken and have them distributed to some of the girls in our class. Chamo heard some of the class whispering about it when he went out last night and brought back one of the pictures." Negi was even surprised at how well he had thought up this lie.

"So where are they," asked a curious Asuna?

Negi blanched, he hadn't been counting on the fact that Asuna would have wanted to see them. "Ah you don't want to see it...its embarrassing."

"Since no one else is in the room I think I can stand being embarrassed in front of you since its becoming a regular day to day thing now." She held out her hand now in which case Chamo decided to intervene.

"Ah Aniki thats right. I forgot to mention that a teachers meeting was issued today. An envelope was inserted under the door this morning."

"WHAT A TEACHERS MEETING," said a shocked Negi. "But its Sunday. Why have a meeting now? Uh and I was wanting to go back to sleep." Asuna laughed at how lazy he was sometimes.

"Don't believe me Aniki here it is," said Chamo dragging the envelope off the desk and dragging it over to Negi.

Negi slid the envelope open and scanned the contents. "Teachers board meeting to discuss exam sitting, security details, and to be started at eleven o'clock." Negi now glanced at the clock on the desk and received a jolt when it he saw it said ten fifty-eight.

"Kuso, I've got two minutes before it starts," said a shocked Negi as he jumped out of bed. Momentarily ignoring the fact that he always changed in the bathroom he grabbed some clothes from the small dresser next to the couch and started throwing off the clothes that he had fallen asleep in.

Asuna meanwhile was staring dumbstruck at the fact that he was changing in front of him. "Ne-Negi."

"Hmm, Asuna-san," he replied as he pulled on a pair of jeans, zipped them up and buttoned them.

"Ah, no never mind." Asuna knew that he was in a hurry but changing in front of her was a bit....going too far. If she had been of right mind she would have normally hit him but something held her back. 'Why am I starring at him? Its not like this is the first time I've seen him without his shirt on.' As Negi pulled on a dress shirt with blue stripes going across it Asuna finally got control of herself and turned away. 'What is with you today," she asked herself? 'Its not like he's any different than he normally is. Further more I feel like a hentai now for starring at his...body.' She couldn't but the word naked in front, even if it was in her own head.

"See you in two hours Asuna-san," said Negi as he walked towards the door.

"Wait Negi what about break-" he shut the door with a snap, "...fast."

It took Asuna some time before she looked away from the closed door. Turning towards the kitchen which had a stack of cold toast left by Konoka before she went over to library island. 'Really, he needs to learn to take better care of himself. Hasn't he ever heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day,' she thought as she munched on her toast

* * *

When Negi left the dorm rooms he was tempted to summon his staff to him but decided not to risk expulsion. It was bad enough that he was already late to a teachers meeting.

Running at bolt neck speed he arrived there only five minutes late. Charging through the front doors of the school's main building he ran up the stairs and sprinted down the hallway to the teachers conference room. Arriving in front of it straightened himself out and pushed open the double doors.

Negi was surprised to see that only a small number of people where seated at the twenty chairs scattered around the table.

"Err, I take it I wasn't the only one that was late," said Negi.

"No," said Konoemon who was seated at the end of the table. "This is everyone, we were just waiting for you."

"Ah," Negi paused for a minute and said, "I'm sorry about being late."

"Its okay Negi. Sit down we have much to talk about."

"Yes, sir."

Konoemon now addressed the room. "You all are probably wondering why I've summoned you select group of teachers, though before I get into that I think that introductions are necessary. Negi," he said now looking at Negi."

"Hai, sir."

"What you see here are all the teachers that like yourself are a mage."

Negi blinked and then looked around the room. Some of them he recognized from brief glimpses of them in the teachers lounge and the hallways.

"So then everyone here is a mage like me then."

"That is correct Negi Springfield-san," said a man to Konoemon's left.

Negi now looked around the room again and felt nervous when everyone was looking at him. Apparently they already knew each other and were now measuring him up to his father, which he didn't appreciate. "Wait a minute," he said suddenly. "I don't see Takamichi here."

"Ah yes," said Konoemon. "Takamichi is on an overseas business trip and won't be back for a few days. Though before he left I already filled him in on everything." Which Negi took to mean that he was doing something for the Kanto Magic Association.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way I can tell you all why I've summoned you here." Taking a quick pause Konoemon continued. "As you all know three weeks ago the school was attacked by a rogue group from the Kansai Magic Association. I need hardly remind every one of the danger that the students were in. Therefore I would like to heighten our security detail here at the school so as to prevent a similar situation from happening, namely protecting the students. Each of you will be assigned to a dormitory, which you will patrol every night from the hours of eleven p.m. to four a.m. This is to be effective immediately and I want all of you to start your patrols tonight. Having another incident is not what we need at this point, and especially with the exams coming up."

Konoemon coughed here, sighed and looked around the room. "However there is another thing that has come up which has truly alerted me to the situation. Some of you may have found out by now due to your own experiences or rumors but recently students have been collapsing frequently in classes, the hallways, and outside. Each case was treated normally at first as a case of exam nerves but I now believe that something is feeding off of the students and making them weaker. So this is everyones first job while on patrols. First to not let anybody out of their dormitories after eight, later I shall make an announcement to the school about the curfew change. Second I want everyone to be on the watch for anything suspicious lurking around the school. I'm not entirely sure what this thing or person is wanting with the students but I can assure you that they will not be able to continue. With that I have some other things to go over...though," and here he turned to Negi. "If you don't mind Negi this involves somethings relating to the inner workings of the Kanto Magic Association so its something that we can't discuss freely with you. I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave."

"Ah no problem," said Negi getting up. "I'm just glad that I'm able to help. Incidentally I assume that the dorm I'll be patrolling is the same one I'm currently living in."

"That is correct Negi."

"OK then, I'll leave you to your meeting. Ja Ne."

Negi walked out the double doors and closed it with a snap.

When Negi left their was a profound silence inside the meeting hall.

"Do you think its wise to let Negi Springfield in on something like this headmaster."

"Why do you ask Katagari?"

"He's to young, even if he may be the son of the thousand master."

"I told everyone how he handled the incident with Takeda and his henchmen. He defended a student and succeeded in stopping them. What more can you ask of him."

"From what I heard he let his anger control him. What's more he tried to use a forbidden spell."

"Well...yes but he didn't so at least he had control of it."

"Why are you even asking him to help? You already know full well as does everyone else here what is causing the disturbance with the students."

"I believe that he would have been drawn into the conflict so I thought it best just to give him enough to help him succeed. Besides I think that he's more suited for handling this. Like father like son, besides if we just captured her than there wouldn't be any meaning in it. No, what she needs is a change of heart and I believe that Negi can accomplish that. Now if were done with the analyzing of Negi I would like to go over a report that the head of the Kansai Magic Association sent me."

* * *

Negi walked slowly back toward the dormitories thinking about the patrolling and what's more worrying how Asuna would react if she found out.

'Hmmm I really shouldn't tell her about this. Knowing her she'd get angry and try to tag along with me. Ah she can be over protecting at times. Like a sister thats well, younger than me anyway and.....AHHH I need to stop worrying about this. Nothings going to happen anyway I-

Suddenly he was cut off by a loud scream from somewhere up ahead. Breaking into a sprint he came into view of a dark figure wrapped in a black cloak crouching over what appeared to be a student.

"Stop right there," yelled Negi.

The figure turned and looked at him and Negi thought he saw a flash of white teeth before he was blinded suddenly. Squinting through his eyes he could just see the figure jump up and fly into the air and disappear.

Forgetting about the figure he now diverted his attention to the student who turned out to be Makie. Negi lifted her up into a sitting position and examined her. Tapping her lightly on the cheek he said, "Hey Makie-san are you there Makie-san." All he got was a small smile.

"Well, at least she has a pulse," said Negi out loud. Negi now looked around but didn't see anybody around so he picked her up was about to carry her to the nurse when he felt something happen to her body. Looking down he hadn't really noticed before with the sun beating down on her face but she had been extremely pale. Now though her complexion seemed to have changed from moments ago and Negi could have sworn he felt dark energy leaving her body. She also seemed to relax a little more and now he could easily hear the signs of her breathing. Sighing from relief he continued to walk towards the nurses office.

* * *

"What is that idiot doing," said an annoyed Asuna to the empty room? "Surely it doesn't take three hours to hold a teachers meeting. Idiot has probably gone off somewhere with some girl that he picked up while downtown yesterday." Asuna then realized what she was saying and hit her head against the wall. "AHHH WHY AM I THINKING THIS? He's definitely not the kind of guy to go on a date or anything, so then why do I feel so worried."

Hearing the door nob turning she wheeled around to see Negi walking in. Asuna's first impression of him was that he had been mugged somewhere but thinking more closely they wouldn't have been able to jump him in the first place. Negi looked like he had just gotten done with an interrogation. His face was rather white and he had bags under his eyes. His hair didn't have the usual shine that it normally had, though that could also have been because he hadn't taken a shower that morning.

"Negi you look like you just got done being interrogated."

Negi ignored her and sat down on the couch. Interrogation was about as close as what it came to. When he had arrived at the nurses office he was immediately dragged back to the meeting with the Kanto Magic Association. Some of them felt that he was suspicious since he was the one that brought Makie in, though as Konoemon pointed out the culprit was unlikely to have sympathy for its victims. So Negi suffered an hour and a half of questioning from every one seated. Really there wasn't much to say about the culprit. Whoever it was they had been so wrapped up in a cloak that he couldn't tell if it was male or female or even human. The one thing that he told them which they all agreed on was the fact that small traces of dark magic where found around Makie. Similar things had happened to other students so this just reaffirmed there fears that it was a dark mage that was committing the crimes. The way they talked sometimes though, Negi thought that there was more that they hadn't told him.

Breaking out of his train of thought he finally answered Asuna's question, "No, the meeting was just really boring. Half the stuff that was talked about didn't really apply to me. I feel like I should have just skipped it." Boy wasn't that a lie

Asuna frowned at him. "Well, what do you want to do today."

"Sit here and sleep of course, its Sunday, nothing better to do anyway."

"Oh yes there is. Your gonna take me out. Consider this your part of the apology for what happened yesterday."

"My part? What part was that? The part where I scared the pervert off or where I bought you some clothes so you wouldn't embarrass yourself."

Asuna flushed slightly, "Hmph, that tank-top was too small anyway."

"Not from what I heard Konoka talking about." Seconds later Negi had a large bump on his head.

"Why are you getting so worked up about this? Besides I've got...some things that I've got to take care of."

"Oh I see, you just don't want to be seen in company with me."

"Your making a big deal out of something small Asuna-san."

"And your being a stubborn ass."

Negi sighed, "Fine you win, I'll take you somewhere, but no shopping. I've had enough of that to last the rest of the time I spend here."

"I get to choose though."

"Whatever, just hurry up and get ready."

Asuna wasn't sure whether to smile or frown at his rudeness so she ignored him and walked in the bathroom to change. During this time several idea crossed Negi's mind. 'So if its just the two of us does this mean its a date of some kinds. No, can't be. Its more of the fact that she just doesn't want to go alone and really I can't blame her.'

Several minutes later Asuna came out dressed in a light pink mini skirt with a yellow short sleeve top. Negi was most shocked though that she came out of the bathroom with her hair down. He had never seen her with her hair down, even in the mornings since she always got up before he did. Just then though she was about to tie the bells into her hair when Negi said, "Err...I think you look better with your hair down actually."

Asuna was rather surprised at the complement but replied, "Well, yes I probably do but, these bells are more than just something to tie my hair together. I received them from someone important to me so I've always worn them."

"I see," Negi didn't press the subject.

"Though if you think it looks better I suppose I can go without them for today."

"No," stammered Negi, "I mean, if you don't want to you don't have to."

"Nah its all right, its more relaxing this way anyway. My hair is just so long that it gets in my way sometimes."

A rather awkward silence accompanied this conversation until Asuna broke it, "Well, should we go then."

"Yeah," said Negi.

The two of them walked out of their dormitory rooms and down the flight of stairs. However they didn't realize that the cheerleading trio of Madoka Kugimiya, Misa Kakizaki, and Sakurako Shiina had seen them leaving the room and followed them.

* * *

"So where do you want to go Asuna-san," asked Negi when they got off the train.

"Oh I don't know," said Asuna. "Why don't we just walk around for a bit and find something that the both of us like."

"Fine with me."

Behind them though the cheerleaders had also gotten off the train and where now following them at a distance.

"Did either of you know about Asuna-san and Negi-kun," asked Madoka. Both Misa and Sakurako shook their heads. "This is interesting, though its not unexpected since they share a dorm room. I wonder what Konoka-san thinks of this though."

"We should send her a picture," said Sakurako.

"But we've got to take it while there doing something together otherwise it wont mean anything."

"To Ayaka-san it would." And the three lapsed into silent giggles

Meanwhile Negi and Asuna had been slowly walking through the shopping areas looking for a place to have a late lunch. Neither of them were talking much and Negi figured that it was a little weird for both of them since it was just to two of them this time. Sure both of them had been together on campus but never by themselves downtown. It didn't help that Negi saw several couples around them. "See anything yet Asuna-san," said Negi breaking the silence.

Asuna didn't hear him at first and was still looking around. "Hey Asuna-san," said Negi again.

This time Asuna looked over at him. "Sorry Negi I was distracted, what did you say."

"Have you seen anywhere that you want to go to yet."

"No, not really," she mumbled.

"You okay you don't seem like your having a good time. I mean if you didn't really want to go with me I'm sure you could have asked Takamichi as a friend. I'm sure he wou-"

"No its not that its..."

"Heh is this weird for you also."

"What do you mean also?"

"I mean being with me like this, just the two of us."

"A little, I guess. I've never been out with a guy like this before so its...different I guess."

"Shouldn't be weird, we're just friends anyway."

Finally Asuna cracked a smile, "Yeah you're right....hey Negi I think I know where I want to go now."

"Oh yeah, where?"

"C'mon I'll show you," and she grabbed Negi's hand surprising him a little.

Behind them several yards stood the three cheerleaders hiding behind a bush, watching what had just happened. "Wow they look good together...really. Makes me a bit jealous of Asuna-san," said Sakurako.

"Yeah Negi-kun is pretty cute," said Madoka.

"So where do you think their going," asked Misa?

"Hmm, I don't think either Negi-kun and Asuna-san are really the type for the lovey dovey atmosphere, so chances are its just something simple."

"That is unless they already have that type of relationship."

"Can't be, Negi's only been here for two months now. Even though he is cute becoming that intimate that quickly is impossible."

"Yeah your right."

Now the three of them crept out behind the bushes and followed them further.

"Err...this isn't really what I had in mind Asuna-san," said Negi looking up at the big sign over the top of the ice cream parlor.

"Ah c'mon Negi, me and Konoka have been here before, its good."

"No what I ment was something that was more...food oriented if you get me. This doesn't really sound like a lunch."

"Fine then," said Asuna turning around. "If you don't like it we'll find someplace that _you_ like."

"Uh fine, forget it, we'll go in. Though I'd prefer going someplace else afterwards for some real food. I still haven't eaten since I got up this morning."

"And who's fault was that," said Asuna pushing open the door to the ice cream parlor.

"Well, I guess you've got a point there Asuna-san."

"One strawberry ice cream with hazelnuts for me," said Asuna when she walked up to the register."

"And what would your boyfriend like," said the guy at the register.

"BOYFRIEND," screamed Asuna and Negi at the same time. "WE'RE NOT DATING!"

"Ah sorry," said the guy. "I just assumed since you guys seem to be getting along so well. Sorry if I embarrassed you at all."

"Ah no sorry we over reacted so badly," said Asuna waving her hands in front of her face. In the end Negi settled on a plain vanilla cone.

"Jeez," mumbled Asuna when they sat down at a table outside. "Way to embarrass us like that."

"Yeah that was a shock."

"Hey umm Negi."

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever thought about dating much," Asuna said this rather quietly?

Negi somehow almost managed to swallow his ice cream whole and started chocking. "What Asuna-san, what kind of a question is that?"

"I'm just curious thats all."

"Well, no I haven't. It never crossed my mind really since I was studying all the time at...well at the university."

"So you've never had a girlfriend?"

"No...I haven't," Negi wasn't sure but it made him blush slightly.

"Hmm I'd figure that you'd have a lot of girls asking you out."

"Give me a break I'm not even ready for something like that."

"Well, it shows. You know absolutely nothing about girls to begin with anyway."

"Thanks for the compliment Asuna-san."

"Anytime Negi."

Suddenly the both of them started laughing hysterically.

"The mood is extremely good," said Sakurako.

"Yeah," replied Misa. "What should we do about it?"

"First we need to send a picture of them to Konoka. But I think that we should support them if they have that kind of relationship," said Madoka.

"OK them I'm sending the picture that I just took of them to Konoka."

* * *

Konoka also happened to be downtown, though she wasn't by herself. Ayaka and Chizuru had tagged along.

"So Konoka, how come your not with Asuna-san today," asked Chizuru.

"Ah well, when I got back from library island she wasn't in her room, neither was Negi-kun though."

Ayaka hadn't been paying attention much until now. Slamming both hands on the table she looked at Konoka and said, "What Asuna-san and Negi-sensei were both gone when you got back."

"Yeah, their wasn't a note or anything telling where either of them might have gone."

"So then its possible that the two of them left somewhere together," said Chizuru.

Ayaka lost control at this point and was about to pick up the table and through it around the cafe when Konoka's phone went off.

"Huh," said Konoka when she opened the phone. "Hmm weird Sakurako just sent me a text with an attachment to it."

"Wha-What does it say," asked Ayaka?

"Umm its say, we want to know what you think of this picture....hmm we?"

"Never mind that open it up what is this picture."

Konoka opened up the attachment and up popped a picture of Asuna and Negi sitting at a table together and eating ice cream. "Hmm looks like Negi-kun took Asuna out for ice cream," said Konoka.

Ayaka had fire in her eyes. "Tha-That ASUNA-SAN! How dare she swipe Negi-sensei out from me. I will not forgive her...wait," she grabbed the phone from Konoka and looked at the picture closer. "This is Pamela's Ice Cream Parlor....which means," she turned her head slowly and looked out the window. Unmistakably she could see the three cheerleaders crouched behind some bushes that divided the two sides of the street in half. On the other side of the bushes Ayaka could easily see Asuna and Negi sitting across from each other.

"WHAT," shouted Ayaka. Grabbing a shocked Chizuru and a confused Konoka she ran out of the cafe and darted over to where the cheerleaders were crouched.

Misa heard a gasping of breath and turned around to see Konoka, Chizuru and Ayaka standing there. "Ah Konoka-san you responded quickly to that text I barely sent it off a minute ago you must have gotten here quickly." She now turned back towards where Negi and Asuna were still sitting. Suddenly it dawned on her, "WHAT AYAKA-SAN, HOW'D YOU GET HEAR SO FAST!"

Hastily Ayaka covered her mouth so she wouldn't continue shouting. It didn't seem that Asuna or Negi had heard anything though.

"Quiet," said Ayaka. "We were across the street at that cafe," she said pointing to the place behind them. "Now then," and here her faced turned to an angry red. "What in the world is Asuna-san and Negi-sensei doing together."

"Isn't it obvious Ayaka-san," said Madoka. "There on a date."

Ayaka fell over backwards. "DATE!"

This time Asuna and Negi looked up.

"Hey Asuna-san did you here something?"

"Yeah I thought I heard Iincho-san for a minute. I don't think she'd forgive me if she saw us together."

"Why's that?"

"You really are slow. She obviously likes you."

"Oh...that."

"Oh that, thats all you have to say."

"I'm her teacher, enough said."

Chizuru was now waving her hands in front of Ayaka's face trying to cool her down for a minute. Sitting up Ayaka saw the two of them get up and toss the paper that had been around their ice cream cones in a trash bin.

Turning to the other she said, "Were gonna follow them. And no questions. I can not allow that monkey Asuna to get Negi."

* * *

"You said you wanted to go somewhere for actual food right," said Asuna when they started to walk oblivious to the fact they where being followed. Though Negi everyone once in a while felt that he had eyes watching him.

"I've changed my mind really, surprisingly I don't feel hungry anymore. Maybe I'm just waiting till tonight when I get to eat whatever Konoka makes."

Asuna frowned at him. "So then what do you want to do."

"We've still got a lot of time until its time to head back so we might as well spend the rest of our time just hanging out, unless you'd rather go back."

"No, no thats fine."

Meanwhile Ayaka was about to run out and interrupt the two when the cheerleaders stopped her.

"Ayaka-san you can't interrupt them."

"Watch me," she snarled back at Madoka.

"Ayaka-san you mustn't," said Misa now grabbing her legs. "As part of the cheerleader squad I and the other two fully support Asuna-san and Negi-kun's relationship."

"I don't care whether you do, I DON'T." Suddenly she felt a hand go over her mouth and silence her.

Negi had turned around when he had heard Ayaka yell and thought that he got a glimpse of of her blonde hair. 'So thats what been going on,' he thought. Turning to Asuna-san he said, "I think we've picked up some followers."

She opened her mouth in fury and was about to turn around when he grabbed her hand, whispering to her he said, "I've got a better idea than yelling at them, and as one of them is Ayaka I think this should startled them."

"What are you planning on doing," she whispered back?

"Nothing much, just something thats sure to startle them."

"And that thing involves me?"

"Its not gonna involve anyone else, is it."

"I suppose not."

"Good then first thing I want you to do is hold my hand."

"EHH-" Thankfully Negi was able to stop her before she screamed very loud. "Calm down Asuna-san. Its obvious that they think we're on a date so this is a good means of playing with their heads. Just don't put to much thought into it."

Taking his hand off her mouth she grimaced back at him before thinking saying, "Fine then, but I'm gonna need to take a shower after this is all done. I'm gonna feel nauseous after being this close to you."

"How do you think I feel about this," mumbled Negi.

Normally Asuna would have slapped him but instead she surprised Negi by going a little further with the holding of hands thing. Linking her arm with his she clasped her hands into his entwining their fingers together and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Wha...Asuna-san what are you-"

"Making it look convincing," she smirked up at him. Really she wanted this to be uncomfortable for him also so she decided on this course of action.

"You don't have to go so far though," hissed Negi.

"What's wrong Negi...feeling a little embarrassed?"

Course he was, how could he not but he wasn't about to let her know that though. "Not at all, good job playing your part. Now then," he looked around for a suitable place and saw a little cafe that was obvious suitable for couples. If Negi had to guess it was a regular spot during Valentine's Day.

"OK Asuna-san prepare to put on a new personality."

* * *

Ayaka had almost popped a vein when she saw Asuna holding hands and resting her head on Negi's shoulder. "Bu-bu-bu-but I-I-"

"I think Ayaka has finally lost it," said Chizuru to Konoka. Konoka simply giggled. Though Negi and Asuna's actions did surprise her. Suddenly she though she heard the cry of a wounded hippo, but it was simply Ayaka making a battle cry. "Okay so Operation Break Up is in full affect. I want a team to be following them at all times and I want a team close enough to hear what their talking about. Everything to be reported back to me."

"Ah Ayaka-san don't you think your taking things a little to seriously," said Konoka.

Ayaka turned slowly and her head seemed to erupt like a volcano. "You can never be too serious in a love war. Now onward everybody." Needless to say nobody moved.

"Fine then," sniffed Ayaka, "if you wont help I'll have to complete this operation myself." Suddenly she disappeared in front of them.

"I think Ayaka-san has just lost ten years of her figure," said Misa.

"Well, I'm still curious about what those two are doing so Ayaka or not the cheerleaders will find out everything," said Sakurako. "Are you with me girls." They all answered back with a loud yes. "Then we continue on like before."

* * *

"Negi this is a little..."

"I don't blame you. I feel sick just standing in front of it," he replied. They were both standing in front of the cafe that Negi had spotted across the street. On their way Negi had thought that he saw somebody with blonde hair following them with their eyes. At least she was still following them. Though he was hoping that she would had given up after she saw him holding hands with Asuna.

"Well, might as well take a seat I suppose," said Negi.

Asuna gave him a glare and he knew that he'd be regretting ever dragging her into this. Walking over to the chair that was closest to where Ayaka was standing he pulled it back and offering it to Asuna put on his strongest british accent. "For you, Asuna-san."

Asuna smirked back at him and put on her own sweet smile and simpered back, "Thank you, Negi-kun."

This was to much for Negi. He felt that he would have fallen on the ground laughing if she hadn't whispered dangerously to him, "Don't you dare screw up now. If you do you'll be bald when you wake up tomorrow." Knowing that she would he calmed himself down and sat down across from him. When the waiter came up to them Negi waved them off saying that they would only need two cokes.

Ayaka saw all this and her mouth was gapping open enough for a hive of bees to fly in. She saw the other girls out of the corner of her eyes crouch down behind the bushes. 'So they wont help me but they'll help themselves. Well, whatever before this is over I'm getting Negi by myself.'

* * *

When the two cokes arrived both Asuna and Negi sipped them. Asuna was waiting for Negi to make the first move since it was his idea to begin with. But she also was curious about how he would handle the situation.

Negi was resting his hand on his cheek while sipping his coke deciding on what to do. He now saw that besides Ayaka there was Konoka and Chizuru and the girls from the cheerleading squad crouched behind the hedges. 'Might as well get on with it,' thought Negi.

"Asuna-san I'm sorry to drag you out here like this but theres something that I can't hide from you any longer."

Asuna played her part well and replied with a soft, "Negi-kun."

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier Asuna-san about not wanting a student teacher relationship. It would just complicate things to much. But...I don't care anymore. I can't stop thinking about you Asuna-san."

Asuna was rather startled at how well he was able to sound like he was serious. 'Maybe he's not acting,' a small voice appeared in her head. 'Maybe he really means what he's saying.'

Asuna was silent still now with her mouth gapping slightly open. "Negi-kun I-I don't know what to say I mean...this is all so sudden so-" 'Oh God,' she thought. 'Why does this feel like where not acting. This seems far to serious to be play acting.'

Suddenly Negi grabbed both her hands across the table and clasped his with hers. Negi was trying his hardest not to laugh but soon if something didn't happen he was going to fall backwards out of his chair and die of laughing. "Asuna-san I'm sorry but during the time we spent together alone inside of that abandoned house I realized something."

'Oh no here it comes,' though Asuna and tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"The truth is Asuna-san I-" though he didn't get any further. Ayaka finally couldn't stand anymore and grabbed the back of Asuna's shirt startling her. Asuna accidentally leaned forward spilling both her and Negi cokes all over each other and crashed over the table and knocking down Negi and landing on top of him

Almost everyone in the area that was watching the scene was to shocked for words. It took several seconds for Negi to regain his chain of thought. First thing he realized was that Asuna was laying on top of him and that the both of them where sticky from the coke that had landed on them. Negi now sat up pulling Asuna with him and looked around at the rather large crowd that had gathered around. Ayaka was standing frozen where she had grabbed Asuna's shirt too surprised to utter a word and the other girls where standing side by side over by the hedge with open mouths.

Finally Asuna started to stir and the first thing she saw was Negi's face looking down at her. Simultaneously the two of them started laughing completely ignoring the fact that everybody had gathered around them. Finally getting control of their laughter Negi said, "Well, it could have gone better I suppose Asuna-san but I think we succeeded in the end."

Asuna smiled back at him and stood up pulling Negi with her.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU TWO WHERE ACTING THE ENTIRE TIME," yelled Ayaka drawing several looks from the other passengers. Everyone was on the train back to the school. When Asuna and Negi finally realized everyone watching the both of them sprinted back towards with the girls right behind them. It was only now that everything came out about what they had really been doing.

"Of course it was all acting Ayaka-san. You can't expect me to date this idiot."

"And I wouldn't want to date a walking time bomb either," said Negi.

"Meaning what," asked Asuna in a dangerous voice.

You'd think that after many happenings of this Negi would learn but he continued, "Simply put you have a limited temper that can go off at any minute." He received a sharp slap to the face.

"How did you two not kill each other though," asked Chizuru?

"It was pretty close really," said Negi. "I was about to die from laughing and Asuna was about to kill me. Frankly I surprised I'm still alive."

"Wait till we get back though baka."

"Hmph, can't wait."

"But really you two looked good together," said Madoka.

"EHH, you sure you weren't looking at someone else," said Asuna.

"No really it looked like you were having fun."

"Well, before I got dragged into that stupid thing I was but-"

"Oh admit it Asuna-san," said Negi. "It was worth it just to see the look on Ayaka's face."

Asuna at first frowned at him but eventually smiled, "Okay I'll admit that was funny."

"Asuna-san," said an outraged Ayaka.

"Calm down Ayaka," said Negi. "Besides I've already said I have no interest in finding a girlfriend while I'm here. Another thing I still said Asuna-san so that should have been an indicator that we were kidding. Even though Asuna-san did add kun on the end of my name. That actually shocked me Asuna-san, that and the fact that you went farther than what I told you about the holding hands."

"What, you mean resting her head on your shoulders was her own decision."

"I wasn't gonna ask her to do something that she wasn't comfortable with. Though that must mean that you were comfortable with that Asuna-san."

"What part of acting don't you understand baka. I've got to disinfect myself now."

"Same goes for me. My hands gonna need to be rinsed twenty times before its sanitary free."

"Ah there they go again," said Konoka.

* * *

"This is just another reminder that no student it allowed out of their dormitories after the hours of eight o'clock. That will be all."

"What was that about," asked Asuna as she stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed in her pajamas.

Negi was startled. With everything that had happened today he had forgotten that he had to start his patrol duties today. "Oh thats just an extra security measure that was put in place because of the....recent terrorist attack on the school." Since Konoka was in the room he couldn't mention what the terrorists were.

"Why didn't you mention this to me earlier."

"I didn't think it mattered that much. You would have heard it eventually anyway."

"You can be so stupid sometimes Negi. Well, whatever I'm going to bed since I've got my paper route in the morning. Night Konoka, night baka Negi."

Negi sighed and looked at his watch. 'Just a little under three hours till a start my patrol.' Now he remembered the dark figure that he had seen earlier that day and his stomach clenched slightly at the thought. Looking over at Konoka and Asuna who were slowly drifting off to sleep he thought, 'If I don't do it no one else will.'

* * *

When eleven finally arrived Negi's watch went off. Hastily turning it off he quietly got off the couch and tip-toed over where he kept his cloak and staff. Throwing his cloak over himself he grabbed his staff and walked quietly over to the door opening it slowly he walked out of the room and closed to the door quietly. 'Good now that I've gotten out time to start patrolling. For some reason though I feel as if I should go to the roof.'

However when he had shut the door it had snapped shut instead of closing quietly and Asuna had woken up. Looking around still half asleep she whispered, "Negi?" She didn't get an answer.

Meanwhile Negi had slowly walked up to the roof and was now looking up at the sky. 'Without the lights on you can see the night sky easily. Hmm this is a good spot to star gaze. I should try to come here more often. Though with this dark mage on the loose I might have to wait a while before I can relax again.' Suddenly he saw movement down below him. On closer inspection it was two people. Thinking that one of them could be the culprit he grabbed his staff and flew down onto the pavement.

Looking around he saw something on the ground ahead of him. Running towards it he realized with a shock that it was Nodoka. She was out cold on the pavement. Quickly Negi felt for a pulse and was relieved when he found one.

"Haha, Negi Springfield, its taken you long enough to get here."

Negi's reflexes kicking in he looked up to see the figure he had seen earlier balancing on a light post. What surprised him most was the voice of the person. It sound like a girl about the same age as one of the students in his class.

"Why are you doing this to students...whoever you are?"

Whoever it was ignored his question and was silent for a minute before saying, "You really do look like your father."

"Wh-What my father. Do you know my father?"

Again the person ignored him.

"Answer me damn it," said Negi finally get angry.

"No need to be rash Negi Springfield. Though if you must know I've met your father before many years ago. Though I must say judging by your first impression your nowhere near as power full as he-"

Out of anger Negi fired off a spell. Ras Tel Mas Kil Magister: _Undecim Spīritūs Lūcis Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Lūcis!*_

With a quick flash of light his opponent tossed something in the air nullifying them, though Negi caught a glimpse of the persons face.

"Ah you look familiar for some reason."

He was greeted by a cold laugh, "Same idiot as his father. No matter I've got uses for you."

Negi was about to fire off another spell when a high pitched yell came from behind him.

"BAKA NEGI."

Turning around Negi saw Asuna sprinting towards him.

"Asuna-san no wait this isn't the best time." Then he heard the sound of laughter. Turning around he saw the woman fly up into the air without the use of a median. 'High class like I figured, though somethings off.' Before Asuna had any chance to start firing off questions at him Negi said quite sternly, "Asuna-san I need you to take Nodoka-san back to her dorm room. I'll take care of things here."

"But Negi-"

"GO! I'll explain everything later."

Asuna hesitated but finally nodded and scooped up Nodoka and carried her back towards the dorms. Now Negi turned his attention to the source of dark energy that was currently above the sky's of Mahora.

Calling his staff to him he soared up into the air and flew towards the direction of the energy. 'Its strange though, whoever she is she seems familiar. What's more she's obviously powerful so why did she use catalysts in order to nullify my spells when she should be powerful enough to make a barrier that I couldn't even break? Guess I'll have to try a few things.'

Getting closer to her he saw that her hood had fallen away and now he got a clear few of the back of her head. She had blonde hair and the first thing that he thought was it was Ayaka. But her voice wasn't as young as this girls was. 'Okay then I'll try that.'

Ras Tel Mas Skil Magister:_ Ēvocātiō Valcyriārum Contubernālia Gladiāria! Age, Capiant!*_

Summoning several wind spirits he sent them after her. Though once again she through the catalysts at the spell and nullified it. 'Okay seem she can't use anything other than the catalysts. Though she may be trying to trick me. Okay one more time.'

Using the same spell as before though he summoned more this time he was successfully able to corner her on top of the clock tower of Mahora.

Even though she had her back to him and he still couldn't see her face he thought that she looked familiar.

"Not bad Negi Springfield summoning sixteen spirit summons at your age is something to be marveled at. Though your father could have summoned two hundred at your age." Negi ignored her jab at him and said calmly, "If you don't mind I'd like to see your face. You seem familiar to me somehow."

"Don't be to surprised then Negi-sensei."

"Sen-sei?"

When she turned around Negi was shocked to see a girl that looked close to twelve or thirteen years old. Even worse he knew who she was. "Huh, your....umm student number 26 Evangeline A.K. McDowell. So then...ah I'm confused."

"Are you now," said a voice close to him.

Turning around quickly he saw that she had gotten behind him somehow. "What are you-" but then he felt strong arms grab a hold of him. 'Now what,' thought Negi. Turning his head as best he could he now saw student number 10 Chachamaru Karakuri standing there holding his arms. Negi seemed to deflate. "Ah what is going on first Evangeline and now Chachamaru what the hell is going on."

"Quite simple Negi-sensei," said Evangeline now standing next to Chachamaru. "Chachamaru is my partner."

"Eh..partner."

"Slow like your father I see."

This sent something through Negi and he tried to break free of Chachamaru's hold but he couldn't. "Chachamaru I'm your teacher so I order you to let me go."

"I'm sorry Negi-sensei," she said in an emotionless voice. "Master's orders are absolute. I'm sorry this has to happen."

Suddenly Negi felt himself pinned to the roof with a strong metal beam. "What are you-" But Evangeline held a finger up to his mouth.

"Negi Springfield oh I've waited for this to happen. In a short time I'll be freed from this curse that your accursed father put on me."

"What curse?"

"The Infernus Scholasticus. I'm forever stuck at this school. Having to repeat the same grades over and over. But that is all about to change today. You see I'm about ready to steal your blood from you. I need the blood of a relative from the man that put this curse on me and you are that person."

"Blood...what are you a vampire."

"Thats right Negi Springfield."

Suddenly Negi's face lit up. "Oh yeah I remember reading somewhere about a twelve year old girl that was bitten and turned into a vampire. So that was you...and you knew my father."

"Don't talk to me about that baka. He promised to remove the curse for me eventually but then he goes and leaves and doesn't come. But thats about to change now. Though I don't think I'll suck you dry right away. I'll keep you as my slave and nibble on you every day until you die. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," said Negi sarcastically.

"Well, then Itadakimasu."

Negi closed his eyes expecting to feel pain but all he heard was a loud yell of. "GET OFF MY ROOMMATE YOU BAKA."

Next minute Negi felt surprisingly light and felt someone pull him out from under the metal beam. Looking up he saw Asuna standing there holding out a hand for him. "Asuna-san what-I-Nodoka-and-Evangeline-Chachamaru-blood." Asuna hit him, "Your not making any sense baka. Besides who are those-EHH EVANGELINE-SAN CHACHAMARU-SAN WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE."

Evangeline was looking curiously at Asuna. 'Strange the moment she got near me my barrier went down. Is that a coincidence or is it something else?' "Chachamaru we're leaving," said suddenly.

"Hai, master."

As Evangeline turned to leaving Negi stood up and yelled after them. "Wait Evangeline-san you don't have to do this. I'll become a Magister Magi and learn how to remove the curse for you."

"Ha, and you expect me to wait how many more years. No, I think I'll take your blood instead. Well, until next time Ja Ne. Oh and you might want to find a partner before you think of fighting me again."

Jumping off the roof Chachamaru turned on her rockets and flew off into the woods with Evangeline.

Negi was still standing on the edge of the roof when he took several steps back and sat down. "Great so I've got a crazed vampire chasing after me with her partner...a robot. Evangeline is trying to suck my blood to remove a curse my father put on her and now I've got to find a temporary partner probably before the week is over. Where you taking notes on that Asuna-san."

"That about everything thats happened to you in the last hour isn't it."

"In a nut shell yeah...how come you decided to follow me."

"Baka I was worried. And you should be glad that I was here. If it wasn't for me you'd be getting your blood sucked now. Though the idea of a vampire still confuses me."

"They're real enough but not many of them existed in the first place so there are few to begin with. How'd you find out I left anyway?"

"I think I heard you leave. At least it woke me up."

"I'll have to remember to be more quite next time."

"Next time?"

"Oh yeah I guess I'd better tell you what the teachers meeting was really about. Basically the curfew was put in so students like Nodoka wouldn't be out after hours. As extra security all the mages that were at the meeting were given orders to patrol a dorm that they were assigned to. Needless to say I was assigned to this one. Every night I'm supposed to go out and patrol from eleven till four."

When Negi finished Asuna was really quiet. "Asuna-san what's up your usually not the silent kind." Turning towards her he saw that she had her head resting on her knees. 'Hmph fell asleep I see. Well, she's used to going to bed early so this is natural. Guess I'll have to carry her back.' Reaching out a hand to touch her he was surprised that she slapped it away.

"Asu-na-san."

"Ba-Baka," Negi was surprised that she seemed to be crying. "Always doing stupid stuff like this by yourself, never caring what other would feel like if something happened to you. Your incentive Negi."

Negi didn't know how to respond so he kept quiet. "Sorry Asuna-san but I didn't want to get you involved anymore than you already are," he said finally breaking the silence.

"Baka," she said softly.

Negi sighed, "C'mon lets head back. You've got a paper route that you've got to go to early in the morning so you need to get back to sleep."

Asuna continued to sit there.

"Now what's wrong Asuna-"

"Carry me back," she whispered.

Negi wasn't sure if he heard right but he acted as though it didn't matter. He didn't like feeling this vulnerable right now. "Okay then come here then, put your arms around my neck....okay off we go."

He slid down the side of the roof and on to his staff. Sometime during the ride back Asuna had fallen asleep and Negi had to wake her up when they arrived at the dorm. "Okay Asuna now promise me that you wont go out looking for me at night again."

No response. Negi figured that she was to tired reply so he was about to leave the room when he heard her say something quietly.

"Umm Negi...Evangeline-san said something about finding a partner before you fight again. So....I....mean if its all right with you...I'll do the....contract with you."

Negi froze in the middle of turning the door nob. Without turning around he said, "I'll think about it," and he walked off to finish his patrols.

* * *

List of Spells.

1. Let the 11 Gathering Spirits of Light Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow! Light Series!

2. An Evocation of the Valkyries, the Companions with Swords! Come on, Let Them Capture!


	8. Test of Friendship

It was three days after Negi had learned that Evangeline was a vampire and that Asuna had made the suggestion that she be his temporary partner. Since then Negi had been trying to avoid being around her for long because then he remembered that he still hadn't given her an answer. So every time that Asuna asked him a question whether it was about her question or something completely unrelated Negi would make an excuse and leave her. He also started to become less interested in teaching and he had split feelings over the matter. Sure he had almost no chance fighting both Evangeline and Chachamaru but he didn't think that he could make the contract with Asuna. If it came to it he'd rather fight by himself.

Meanwhile Asuna was also having her own issues over the matter. The friendly date, if that is what you could call it, was still lodged in the back of her mind and no matter how much she denied it she still couldn't remember when she had had more fun. Her personality now days was like Negi had described it on the train, "A walking time bomb with a short fuse." Well, now the fuse was so short that every minor thing set her off. She was constantly irritated about something and yelled more frequently at Ayaka, even if it was something completely unrelated.

Konoka had noticed this sudden change in their moods and could only attest that something had happened between the two. So she tried asking each of them separately to go out to dinner with her. Though when Asuna and Negi finally realized what she was doing both of them ignored each other for the rest of the night. Konoka tried to make conversation with the two of them and though both of them answered normally neither of them looked at the other. It was though there was simply an empty seat next to Konoka.

Negi meanwhile had noticed that both Evangeline and Chachamaru had stopped going to his classes. Though he was somewhat glad, the fact was that he was nervous about what there fight would be like next time. Meanwhile Takamichi had come back from his business trip for the Kanto Magic Association and taken Negi aside and asked him why he seemed so depressed lately. Negi hadn't bothered to tell Konoemon about Evangeline since he now thought that he had known who it was all along and had simply wanted to see how Negi would handle it. So when asked by Takamichi what had happened he lied and said that everything was fine.

Now Negi was laying on his back after classes and looking up at the sky. He only realized now that it was close to where Asuna had found out that he was a mage. 'Really this would be a lot simpler if I wasn't a teacher at an all girls school. All I'd have to do is snap my fingers and they'd probably line up asking me to be their partner. Well, I don't have that kind of luxury so no point wishing it.' Suddenly he was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed a shadow standing over him. Looking up he saw the familiar green hair of Chachamaru. Normally he'd be alerted by this sudden introduction but he knew that Evangeline wouldn't do anything in broad daylight.

Before waiting for any kind of question Chachamaru said in her emotionless voice, "Negi-sensei my master wants to talk to you. I'm to escort you to her."

Negi didn't think there would be any point so he simply nodded and stood up.

* * *

"I'm glad that you answered my summons Negi-sensei," said Evangeline.

"I saw no reason in denying you so..."

Both of them where standing facing each other on top of the school roof and Evangeline was leaning her back against the railing.

"Brave of you to see me like this...since soon your gonna be dead," she said while flashing her white teeth at him.

Negi ignored her, "So did you ask me up here to just threaten me or is there something that you actually want to talk about."

"I would like to give you a choice. If you allow me to suck your blood tomorrow night while the moon is full than I shall stop attacking students. However if you refuse it than I shall continue draining students of their energy. Either way I win so I suggest that you answer quickly. I don't have all day and I don't think you do either."

"That is little more than a threat," replied Negi. "If you don't have anything else to add than I think I'll excuse myself."

Negi now turned to go but was stopped when Evangeline said something else, "If you don't act than I'll take this as an invitation to feel free to continue attacking students. Namely your two room mates Asuna Kagurazaka and Konoka Konoe."

Negi wheeled around and threw Evangeline a look that even made Evangeline step back a pace. It was a look of loathing. "I'd rather die trying to stop you than give up freely. We'll solve this one way or another two days from now. Later." Negi now turned and walked to the stairway door.

When Negi had left Evangeline turned back to looking at the school grounds that she had been living at for fifteen years. "That boy can be rather aggressive at times. Its something that doesn't seem to fit well, at least with regard to his father."

"Master," said Chachamaru speaking up, "Do you know who Negi's mother is?"

"No, I don't. Her existence has been kept well hidden. My guess is that only people who knew Nagi closely knew her also. One thing I know is that hatred has been settled deep in him and is asking to be let free. Maybe I can...well, thats something he'll have to decide by himself."

When Negi left the roof he wandered around school for a while before he went back outside and rested himself on a bench. Now that he had stopped walking Chamo decided to pop out of his shirt pocket.

"Aniki, that Evangeline can sure send shivers down your spine. Do you even have a chance to fight her."

"Quite frankly Chamo-kun I don't think so. Its fairly hopeless but I've got to try anyway."

"Ah Aniki you can still do the contract with-"

"Don't talk to me about that right now Chamo-kun, I need to think."

Chamo took this as a sign for him to leave and did so. Negi now was left alone to his thoughts. The more he thought about a contract with Asuna seemed the only option he had. She was the only person that knew he was a mage and bringing another student into the circle about his secret would only make things worse. Even so the thought of....doing the contract with her repulsed him as much as it enthralled him. It wasn't that he disliked her, well, not normally, but he didn't want to issue the contract with her because they would almost certainly get closer. He didn't want that to happen since he wasn't sure how the other students would react or the teachers for that matter. Hell if anything became serious he could have his teachers licensee revoked and sent back to England. Now he saw that he actually was glad that he had been assigned a teacher and that he had met his class. Really they were fun to be around. Not to mention the fact that this would be his first...no, best not to think about it in those terms. Its only a means to fight back. Now Negi wondered who the idiot was that thought up the way to issue a contract and wondered if his father had done the same thing. Well, if he did, it would have been with his mother. These thoughts carried him off to sleep on the bench.

* * *

Negi wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping but he was only too aware that something had bitten him none to softly on the hand. Jerking awake he saw that Chamo was back and that he had brought somebody, Asuna. Negi now felt that his cheeks were stinging rather hard.

"We had a tough time getting you to wake up Aniki. Ane-san here slapped you a few times but eventually I had to bight you. Sorry about that Aniki."

Negi wasn't really paying attention and was only looking at Asuna.

"Hey," he finally said. Her response was a hard slap to his face. Recovering from it Negi yelled back, "What the hell was that for!"

"You should know very well what that was for you idiot, yelled back Asuna! "Three days you keep ignoring me and then you just say hey as if nothing happened. How do you think I'm going to respond to th-"

"If you want me to I can go back to ignoring you then."

"Of course I don't idiot. I became so angry without having you around to yell at. I even yelled at some fourth graders while downtown with Konoka yesterday. And don't make any excuses that you've been doing fine. I know that you've been too distracted during class. What with Evangeline and what I ask-" There, it finally came out in the open. Both Negi and Asuna now avoided each others eyes.

"So have you decided yet," said Asuna breaking the silence?

"I was thinking about it before I fell asleep."

"And?"

"From what I've determined I need a temporary partner before I fight Evangeline and Chachamaru."

"So then you've decide on me then?"

"I said I decided I need a partner. I never said anything about you as my partner," snapped Negi.

"You're being stubborn again. Why wont you just let me help you," snapped back Asuna.

"Because I...." Really he didn't know what he was going to say.

"Aniki, Ane-san why don't you just go Chuuuu and make up," said Chamo. This was one thing that Asuna and Negi could agree on, Chamo was asking for it. Next second they both had their full body weight pressed down on Chamo's tail with their feet.

"AHHHH, I WAS KIDDING, KIDDING," yelled Chamo!

Both Negi and Asuna stepped off of Chamo at the same time, looked at each other, and started laughing. Though Negi became serious again shortly after.

"I'm sorry Asuna-san but becoming partners with you go's against every fiber of my being."

"Do you really not want to kiss me that bad," whispered Asuna.

Negi realized the hurt in her voice and went to repair the damage. "No, no its nothing like that. I just feel that....err how should I put this. That I don't want to put you in danger."

"There you go, making excuses again Negi. During the fight with Takeda and his henchmen I saw that if I'm not around you your gonna kill yourself if you overexert yourself. Also I...felt that I was useless." Negi was surprised that she seemed to be getting a little tearful. "I didn't feel like I did anything to help you."

"Th-Thats not true Asuna-san. If you weren't there I might have done something stupider and used that forbidden spell. It was because you were there that I didn't use it."

"You make it sound nice but I could only sit by and watch you as you fought. I want to be more helpful than just somebody that stands to the side and cheers for you." Negi just realized that she seemed to be getting closer to him. What's more Negi heard the soft scratching of something and looked down to see Chamo drawing something on the ground. Diverting his attention towards Chamo he said, "Why are you drawing the circle required for the contract....unless." Negi looked up and saw that Asuna was getting awfully closer to him. "Asuna-san what are you..."

"Your so indecisive that I'm taking things into my own hands baka."

"Ah wait Asuna-san, something like this isn't right. I mean," Negi looked down at his feet. "Your a student and all."

"Then think of this as a friendly kiss. Besides this is a one time only so don't expect this to happen again or anything." It seemed she was starting to get the air of the old Asuna back.

"Why'd I want this to happen often anyway."

"Oh shut it Negi," she said as she inched closer.

"Whatever Asuna-san," said Negi as he braced himself to feel her lips. 'Woo, no thinking about that. This is strictly for defeating Evangeline and Chachamaru. Nothing else.'

Suddenly he could feel her breath on his face. It tickled his noes a little. "Are you ready Chamo," asked Asuna?

"Anytime Ane-san," came Chamo's voice from somewhere around Negi's legs.

"OK, then," Asuna took a deep breath and continued, "here we go Negi."

Negi fully expected to feel her lips against his any moment but was surprised when he felt her lips against his cheek instead for a brief moment. Negi wasn't even sure if it had been real. It had happened so fast that he thought it was a complete dream. When Negi opened his eyes the first thing he saw was a smiling Asuna standing there looking at him.

"Well," she said expecting something to happen.

"Well, what," answered Negi annoyed. 'So much for that.'

"Isn't something supposed to happen," asked Asuna starting to get annoyed?

Negi sighed and looked down at Chamo who appeared to be speechless holding the chalk limply in his hand. "Care to explain why nothing is happening Chamo-kun," said Negi.

"Ah yeah uhh, yah see Ane-san, nothing is going to happen since you didn't really kiss him."

"What do you mean," said a confused Asuna. "You saw clearly that I did, I was expecting something more that just this."

Negi now decided to just spill it, "You can't just give me a half hearted friendly kiss to the cheek. Its got to be on the lips otherwise the contract wont even activate."

Asuna was silent for a minute until she screamed, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO KISS YOU ON THE LIPS. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO KISS YOU ANYWHERE AND IT WOULD COUNT."

"Anywhere," asked Negi with a raised eyebrow?

Asuna immediately understood what he ment and blushed a deep scarlet.

"Now do you understand why I was so against this in the first place," said Negi. "I didn't think you'd really do it but even a kiss to the cheek was rather shocking. Of course a kiss to the lips is out of the question. A kiss to the lips for the contract really indicates trust between the mage and the partner. Without true trust the contract wont activate. So let me ask you this Asuna...do you trust me."

"What kind of a question is that?"

"Do you trust me with your life and the same goes for me. I have to be able to trust you with my life. The contract goes both ways."

"Your talking about life and death here, aren't you?"

"This is exactly why I didn't want to make the contract with you." Negi had spit out what had been on his mind before now and immediately wished he didn't. Asuna was now looking at him with anger in her eyes.

"Asuna-san wait, I didn't mean it like that."

Asuna looked at him completely passive for a minute then replied, "Your right Negi when you said that we'd be fighting each other during a battle. Sorry that I even mentioned that we become partners. I'll let you get back to deciding who your gonna choose then." With that she turned around and walked off.

Negi continued standing there for a minute then took a step back and sank down onto the bench. Suddenly lashing out at how stupid he just was he screamed, "GOD DAMNIT." His sudden outburst sent a sudden wave of wind magic out of himself created a strong breeze in the vicinity. 'Calm yourself Negi,' he suddenly told himself. 'You don't want to get kicked out because of accidental magic. You should be able to control yourself by now.' This calmed Negi down quickly, but he still felt pissed at himself. Why the hell did he say that. What he ment when he said about not having Asuna as a partner was that she didn't realize how dangerous it could be. Not to mention the longer she spent around him the more likely someone would find out about her magic cancel ability. Therefore he was quite glad that the contract had failed.

Even so...now what. She was the closest that he'd get to a partner. Part of him wanted her as a partner but that other half was still hesitant. Therefore the two battling minds went at it again and Negi was hurled back in forth between two sides in the middle. Eventually he got tired of this constant bickering of his two selves and dropped off the sleep.

* * *

When Negi awoke it took him a minute to remember why he felt so bad. Then he remembered his recent argument with Asuna and seemed to slump on the bench. Looking up from where he sat he was shocked that the stars were out. Apparently he had slept there for several hours and night had fallen. Right now though he didn't feel like going back to the dormitory. He didn't feel like being close to Asuna, whether she was sleeping or not. So for right now he decided to sit and watch the stars. 'Really I miss this,' he thought suddenly. 'It may not be as beautiful like in Wales, what with all the city light, but it isn't like Tokyo either.'

"Negi is that you," came a voice from somewhere in the darkness.

Negi thought he recognized that voice and answered hesitantly, "Takamichi?"

Takamichi came into perspective now and was standing in front of Negi. "How come you're out here at eight o'clock. Your not already starting your patrol duties are you?"

Negi sighed, "No, if you must know I got in a fight with Asuna-san earlier and I don't feel like going back to the dormitories right now."

"So...your sulking?"

"If you want to call it that, I guess. What were you doing while you were gone from school anyway."

"You know I can't tell you that...though I 'll just say it had something to do with the Kansai Magic Association."

"How are relations with them since the attack against the school?"

"Strangled. Other factions similar to that one we fought have been trying to seize control of the main branches of the clan. Whatever happens in the end can't be good for us. Enough about me though, what about you? You've been depressed ever since three days ago."

"Its nothing I'd want to talk about."

Takamichi continued to look at him for a minute before he said, "Well, if you don't want to go back to dorms tonight you can stay over at my place tonight I suppose."

"You'd let me?"

"Sure there's nothing that says I'm not allowed to."

"Thanks, it means...well, It'll give me time to think at least."

"No problem, consider it like old times."

* * *

So Negi and Takamichi walked through the woods together until they arrived at Takamichi's house. Negi hadn't been back to it since the fight three weeks ago but it seemed that it had been repaired. Negi turned to thank Takamichi then but instead was surprised to see Takamichi walk away from him.

"Takamichi what are yo-"

Takamichi took a battle stance with his right foot in front of his left and his right had held out palm first while his left hand was clenched in a fist by his side. "Negi how bout a little sparring battle between us. Its been a while so I thought that it'd be fun."

"What Takamichi, what's this all the sudden. I-"

Suddenly Negi was caught off guard when Takamichi delivered a strong right hook to the side of Negi's face. The blow sent him backwards several yards where he landed on his back. Wiping a bit of blood of the side of his face he yelled back, "What the hell are you doing all the sudden. I wasn't even ready for you and you go punching me."

Takamichi now stood up straight and lit a cigarette. "The way you are right now Negi...you won't even be able to protect your students if something happened to you."

"What do you me-"

"You're to wound up, to tense. You'd react stupidly if something were to suddenly happen. I don't know whether this has anything to do with Asuna-san or lack of sleep with your patrol duties but I think a match is the best way to wake you up. In three years you'll be an adult and its about time you started shouldering some responsibilities."

"I told you it doesn't concern you Takamichi."

"Then prove it me. Show me that you can fight seriously even when your mind is occupied. A Magister Magi should be able to fight even while under pressure."

This mention of a Magister Magi seemed to open Negi's eyes and everything about his predicament about Evangeline and his thoughts about Asuna disappeared. Everything that mattered right now was his match with Takamichi.

Negi now took his own battle stance similar to that of Takamichi's except he had both his fists clenched.

"Are you ready then Negi." Negi simply nodded and waited.

When Takamichi moved Negi was ready this time. He quickly moved his head to the side dodging Takamichi's right hook. Swinging down to the ground he placed both palms on the ground and swung his right leg out. Takamichi was ready for this and jumped over his right leg but was caught in mid air when Negi's left hand came up and hit him in the face while his right was still planted firmly on the ground.

Reeling backwards Takamichi looked up to Negi who seemed to be completely focused. "I do have to admit Negi you've gotten better at being able to anticipate peoples attacks."

"Nah, I think its just because I've sparred so much with you before that I know somewhat how you'd react."

"Well, no matter what you've improved in the years since we fought before. Though I have to say, why aren't you using spells?"

Negi shrugged. "I've always been a bit lax in the hand to hand combat so I want to try my luck at it. What better way to practice then to have a fight between death glasses Takahata."

"Well, I think its about time that we stop kidding around and get to the main fight."

Suddenly Takamichi appeared in front of Negi and before Negi had a chance to react Takamichi punched him in the face sending him skidding backwards. Negi was now rubbing the side of his cheek where a red spot had appeared. "That was Shundo, wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was. Though you know enough about it, don't you."

"I wondered if you saw it when I was fighting Takeda."

"Why don't you show me it then?"

"Fine," said Negi, "but its not nearly at the level as Shundo," he said as he appeared in front of Takamichi's face. Thanks to Takamichi's reflexes he was able to bend his back far enough to dodge the blow by Negi. Takamichi now jumped back a few paces and regarded the boy who he had known since his childhood.

"I would say its impressive. What do you call it?"

"Ventus Tractus, or wind step," said Negi simply. "As I said its not nearly as fast as Shundo but it sacrifices speed for control. If an opponent moves between when I activate it and when I get to him I'm able to change direction and follow him. Where as when Shundo is activated you can't stop it. It still has a lot of problems with it and I can't always use it."

"Only someone that knows a great deal about wind magic could come up with something like that. Its impressive enough, though lets see how it matches up against Shundo."

Takamichi pressed off against the ground with his right foot and soared towards Negi's position. Without thinking Negi pushed off against the ground and flew to his left. When Takamichi finally stopped he landed where Negi used to be and looked to his left to see Negi standing there regarding him passively.

"Not bad, but if an opponent were to use Shundo along with the mid air instant Shundo you'd have some difficulties."

Negi smirked, "As I said its still got some problems with it. Though I hope to perfect it one day."

Takamichi looked at Negi for a minute and thought, 'This kid hasn't just improved mentally, he's improved his skill with the basic techniques as well. Who would have thought that he'd develop a skill that may eventually surpass Shundo. Granted someone without a strong affinity for wind magic couldn't pull it off, but for some like him its a great card to play.'

"Takamichi, I'm gonna start using some spells so you better get ready."

"Its not wise to let your opponent know what your doing."

Negi ignored him and chanted. "Ras Tel Mas Skil Magister:_ Undecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis! "_

Negi summoned eleven arrows of lightning out of nowhere, though instead of aiming them at Takamichi he sent them flying towards the ground, created a small cloud of dust.

"Hiding won't work here Negi."

Before Takamichi was able to say anything else he felt pressure on his back and heard the words: "_Āēr Captūrae!"_

Negi summoned twenty-nine arrows of air which wrapped themselves around Takamichi binding him to the ground.

"Heh, still using delayed spells I see Negi. I should have thought that you were doing something with the smoke cloud. Though I must say that it is a good tactic to use the dust cloud to chant the Sagitta Magica part and then use your Wind Step to surprise your opponent while their focused on the dust cloud."

"Ah it wasn't that great Takamichi, moreover you were going easy on me since we first started."

"You can't expect me to use Kankaho right from the start. Besides if you got hit by that who knows what could have happened to you. Anyway how do you feel now."

Negi blinked and realized that throughout the entire battle he had been thinking about nothing else other than beating Takamichi. "Great, I'd completely forgotten about what had been bothering me."

"That was my intended purpose after all."

Now Takamichi forcefully broke free of the arrows of wind.

"You could have done that anytime you wanted to Takamichi," said Negi.

"Well, yes, to me twenty-nine arrows isn't even to defeat me."

"I figured as much....but thanks I feel a lot better. I think I might just head back to the dormitories after."

"Hang on Negi I wanted to talk to you about some stuff, other than the match."

"Huh, okay sure."

Negi now followed Takamichi as he walked to the the front door

* * *

"Looks like all the damage was repaired," said Negi while he sipped his tea.

The two of them were sitting in the same living room Asuna and Negi had spent the night in. Except this time the furniture wasn't half destroyed.

"Yeah," said Takamichi as he put his cup down. "This is still considered part of the school even though its not on school grounds so it didn't come out of my pocket. Anyway though, I wanted to ask you about a few things. Try not to be shocked or anything but I want to know what you and Asuna argued over."

Negi went to interrupt him but Takamichi held up a hand to silence him. "No I shouldn't put it that way. Its your own business what go's on with your lives. But I can somewhat guess what it is your thinking of. You're bothered that you two have gotten too close together, did I nail it?"

Negi seemed to slouch in his chair. "Perfectly actually. I still remember what you said, about watching out for her. But I feel like the more that she's around me the more trouble she is in. Sometimes I think it would have been better off if she just had her memory wiped and forgot about me being a mage."

"Yet you don't have that kind of luxury so all you can do is continue. And I want to tell you something. If you look at it a different way if you two become more close that just means that you'll be around her more often to protect her. The moment that she found out that you were a mage there was going to be some closeness involved. Now you can disregard what I said and become an ermine and have her forget about you or you can except things the way they are."

"This sounds like a kind of talk I'd have with...a father."

"Consider it advice from someone who knew you since you were growing up."

"Well, I'm still hesitant about it."

"Do you have feelings for her?"

Negi respond by spitting the rest of his tea down the front of his shirt. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"OK, OK, don't need to get so defensive over it."

"I'm not being defensive. You just asked a ridiculous question. How do you think I'm going to react?"

"Well, never mind. Its getting late anyway and we've both got to go out and patrol soon. So should I leave the door unlocked for you incase you get back before me or do you plan on going back to your dorm."

"No, I think I understand enough now to know where I'm supposed to be." Evangeline's talk about going to Asuna and Konoka's dorm echoed in his mind just then.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you in the teachers lounge tomorrow then."

"Yeah bye Takamichi."

* * *

Negi rushed back to the dormitories as fast as he could. He had only a few minutes left till his patrol started and he wanted to grab his cloak before he left.

When he arrived at the dorm room he grabbed the door nob and turned it slowly hoping that it wouldn't creak. Thankfully it didn't and he walked in slowly. Both of them were sound asleep. Negi laughed silently when he thought he heard Konoka snoring. She really confused him sometimes. When Negi had grabbed his cloak and tossed it over himself he turned around and almost fell over when he saw Asuna climbing down the ladder to her bunk bed. 'Oh God I hope she didn't see me,' thought Negi. Why he was still being so nervous he didn't know. Though it appeared that she did see him and walked over to him. Grabbing his hand she steered him out of the dorm room so that she could talk to him properly.

When they went through the door Asuna let go of Negi's hand and went over to the railing and looked down at the ground floor at the bottom. Negi had continued to stand there where she had let go of his hand unsure what to say.

"Um Asuna-san....did you wait for me this entire," said Negi finally regaining his voice.

She simply nodded.

"You shouldn't have, you've got a job, you should be asleep."

She shrugged this time.

"Asuna-san I understand if you don't want to answer me....but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what I said earlier today. I just don't want to put you in danger is all."

"Baka," she whispered.

"Sorry didn't quite catch that," said Negi.

"Baaaaaaka, stubborn ass, insensitive jerk."

"I supposed I deserved that."

"And you deserve a lot more too," she paused. "Though, Negi I'm also sorry about trying to force you to make the contract, it wasn't right if you didn't want to."

Negi shrugged and said, "Its not that I didn't want to. Tell you the truth I was prepared, I think."

"What you were prepared to be kissed my me."

"Well, yeah if you want to put it that way."

"Hmph, hentai."

"Ah don't be like that Asuna-san."

Asuna finally turned around and smiled. "Well, I suppose that you've got to go out on patrol don't you."

"I guess."

Asuna now turned to go back in the dorm and go back to sleep but Negi put a hand on her shoulder. "Asuna-san...um how should I put this...something may happen tomorrow. So I may need your help."

Asuna smirked back and winked at him, "You can count on it Negi."

Asuna now left Negi standing on the landing of the dormitories looking at the door Asuna just went through. Negi suddenly wished that he didn't have patrol duties. 'No, best to push that out of my mind,' he thought. 'Well, best get on with the nights work. Though nothing should happen until tomorrow anyway.' Negi now tossed his cloak around his shoulders and walked down the stairs and out into the starry sky.


	9. A Long Awaited Battle

**I'M BACK! Though in all actuality I never left. Anyways yes I'm back and working on this story again. Sorry about the...five month wait...or something like that. After finishing that last chapter I took a month long break from fanfic in general. Though when summer started up I started working on Spawn of Adam my Evangelion fanfic (if you like AsukaXShinji check it out). Anyway college is starting again so heres what's gonna happen. I'll post a chapter of this and then SoA, then this and that, this and that. Simple enough I guess. On I side note I loved chapter (give me a minute to look it up) 300. That blush at the end and subsequent deny of it was priceless (if you don't know what I'm talking about DROP THIS AND GO READ IT) Another side note (God I'm full of them today) this chapter's title is...a play on words I suppose. In a way I was making fun of my own time lapse between chapter 8 and 9. So the name is fitting so to speak. Also while I post this I'm about to go to class so I have not had a chance to proof read about half of this...and its also lacking the spell translations at the end. Though a lot of them are self explanatory. And...I'm done. TIME FOR MATH...YIPPEE!"**

**(Spells added. Hopefully I'll have enough time to proofread later)**

* * *

The next day, Negi felt that he was about to have a nervous breakdown any second. He had never been so nervous in his life, not even when he was sitting for the practical wizards examination at the university in Wales. He was extremely jittery in class and kept on loosing his place in the book he was reading and stuttering over his words. Eventually he called a halt half way through class when he realized that hardly any of his students were listening to him. Well, they were listening in the sense that they were looking at him...just not taking in what he was saying. Though that could have been attributed to the fact that they thought he was still cute.

After class was dismissed Negi let out a weary sigh and leaned back in his chair while looking back up at the ceiling.

"How the hell did I manage to get involved in this," he mumbled.

Then he ended up remembering what Evangeline had told him several days ago and how it all came back to his father. He couldn't for the life of him understand what his father had been thinking when he put that curse on her. Was he just teasing her? Or did his father plan this as something that he would have to overcome. Whatever it was, he didn't think his father had seriously thought about the repercussions.

"Well, no matter," he said to the seemingly empty classroom. "I'll just meet it head on I suppose."

"Thats a good way to get yourself killed, baka."

Negi, in his surprise, leaned backwards too far, and toppled out of his chair. Picking himself of the ground; using his desk as a support, he glared back at Asuna who was standing in the doorway of the classroom and had been waiting for.

"How long are you going to sit there?"

"I could ask you the very same thing. How long are you going to stand there?"

"Hmph, baka! And here I thought I'd be nice and wait for you so we can head back together. Well, if you don't want to, I'll just go with Konoka."

"No...thats not what I ment. Why have you been standing there?"

"Didn't I just tell you! Have you gone deaf along with insane? Everybody was wondering what was wrong with you today. And of course I can't say anything becau-"

Cutting across her Negi said, "Well, sorry for wondering whether I'm even going to be teaching class tomorrow. For all I know I'll be lifeless doll before tonight is ove-"

"Don't even joke about something like that," whispered Asuna in a dangerous voice.

Negi immediately realized he had said something he shouldn't have as Asuna's face turned stony. Shrugging as though he hadn't been serious, he said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No...you shouldn't have. Now come on. Konoka should be waiting for us."

"Waiting where?"

"Just outside this building of course. ...What did you think?"

"Just that I can't stand another shopping trip."

"Thats good because after last time I don't intend to take you again."

"I'll remember that a week from now," mumbled Negi.

"What, baka?"

"Nothing..."

Standing up, Negi gathered together the papers that were strewn across his desk and dumped them into the briefcase that he had recently been bringing to class. It was to the point that he couldn't be organized without one.

Swinging his brief case behind his shoulder he said, "Might as well make the best of the rest of the day."

"...Maybe nothing will happen," said a hopeful Asuna.

"I can wish that. But I doubt Evangeline is going to change her mind. She seems pretty set on drinking my blood."

"I'm still shocked that she's a vampire. Does the magical world lack anything?"

"A stable form of government maybe," grunted Negi.

"Government?"

"I've never been to the magical world before myself, but from what I've heard recently the government has started to crumble. We've been getting a steady increase of magical people moving to this world. I heard that its become a problem accommodating them all. Special towns have to be set up and well enough away from normal people."

"But wasn't Wales a non-magical town to begin with?"

"No. Its roots are actually magical. But the people that live there blend in so well with the ordinary population that nobody notices so the magical government leaves it alone. People born in the magical world tend to be surprised by stuff that this world offers. Because of that there have been several encounters with magical people and non-magical people over the years. It took a lot of time cleaning up those messes."

"Hmmm...I see."

"...You really don't, do you?"

"Not at all."

"...Your only redeeming quality is your insane strength after all."

"Say that again and I'm sending you straight through the floorboards of this school."

"Sounds like something only you would be capable of."

"Come again?"

"Nothing...Oh Konoka-san."

Negi and Asuna had just exited the main building to see Konoka waving at the two of them while standing on the bottom steps of the school.

"Negi-kun! Asuna! What took you so long!" Shouted Konoka.

Shouting back Asuna said, "Sorry! Just telling Negi how much of an idiot he was in class today!"

"Don't berate him to much Asuna. I'm sure he's having a tough time getting everything ready for exams."

Negi felt a large brick drop into his stomach. He had completely forgotten about final exams and the consequences if class 2-A failed again this term. He had been so focused on his recent problems with Asuna and Evangeline that it had been moved to the back burner.

Smiling in an offhanded way, Negi said, "Oh...yeah. Something like that."

"Don't worry about it so much Negi-kun. Our class is always at the bottom of the class exams list. Don't think that we did bad because of your teaching or anything."

"No...I know that. At least you're smart Konoka-san...more than I can say about somebody." Negi said this while glancing at Asuna, though it didn't seem to register with her.

"Ah, Negi-kun you're making me blush."

"...Well its the truth. From what I've seen you're one of the smartest in the class. At least I can rely on you to get a high score on the exam."

"Why are you worrying about this so much baka," asked Asuna?

"Huh? Oh...no reason really."

"Hmmm? For some reason I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want. Anyway lets hurry and return to the dorms."

"Yeah, yeah. Baka." Turning to Konoka, Asuna said, "Konoka lets go downtown and get lunch. We can leave this fool back at the dormitories."

"Ah, Asuna. Negi-kun can go if he wants."

"No," said Negi in such a flat voice that both Konoka and Asuna were surprised.

Konoka looked surprised for a moment but quickly returned to her usual happy smile. "Well, if Negi-kun wants to stay at the dormitories and work, thats fine also." Trotting a ways ahead of Asuna and Negi she waved back and said, "Come on Asuna, lets go!"

"...Yeah, give me a minute!"

After Konoka had turned back around, Asuna turned and said to Negi, "...If you really want to you can go. Its not like I can force you not to go-"

"No...I had already planned on not going today even if you begged me-"

"Like I'd ever do that bak-"

"-and with Konoka-san gone it makes it much easier."

"Huh?"

Looking around quickly to be sure that no body was within earshot of them, Negi quickly whispered back to Asuna, "I'm going to prepare for tonight, and I'd prefer some piece and quiet."

Frowning back at him, Asuna said, "How long will it take?"

"A few hours at most, just keep her busy till then. I'm just gonna go over some spells that might prove useful...and some magical artifacts that might help also."

"Okay you can count on me."

"Great thanks Asuna-san."

"No prob-"

"And also-"

Asuna had just started running after Konoka when Negi grabbed onto her hand.

"-If I need any help...can I rely on you?"

"...Yeah..."

"...Thanks."

An awkward silence passed between the two as each of them wondered if the other had something to say. After this lasted for more than twenty-seconds, Asuna took her leave and ran after Konoka.

Negi let out a weary sigh and continued walking back to the dormitories while going over anything that he might need. It was better to be over prepared then missing something. Though he thought that if he was missing something it had to be Asuna.

* * *

Evangeline stood on top of the school roof looking up at the bright sky.

"Only a few more hours until darkness falls," she whispered.

* * *

"I suppose this is as much as I can carry," said Negi while looking at the clutter of magical artifacts on the floor.

It was much later in the day and darkness was just starting to settle in. Konoka and Asuna had returned sometime ago, but Negi still wasn't ready so Asuna convinced Konoka to head over to the Library Island to help out Yue and Nodoka. Now it was just the two of them in the dormitory room. Negi was sitting on the floor, pouring over old books that he had brought with him and examining all his magical artifacts. Asuna meanwhile was laying on Konoka's bed with a bored expression on her face as she watched Negi.

"Hey...does this stuff even have any value?"

"To you it may not, but there are a lot of people that collect artifacts like these."

"Seems like useless junk to me."

"Say what you want, but I've been collecting this stuff for a while, and some of it would sell for a lot."

"Still looks like junk."

"If you're so bored, why didn't you go with Konoka-san?"

"So I can keep an eye on you...I don't trust you. If I left you'd leave right away and wait for Evangeline-san."

Negi didn't have anything to say to this as she was right and kept silent.

Looking down at the list of spells he had memorized he realized just how little his knowledge of magic was. He only knew a handful of spells that he deemed worthwhile in combat. The others he couldn't understand why he had even bothered memorizing them. Then he remembered they were part of the practical examination at the university.

Standing up quickly, he stretched and looked at the clock. It read seven o'clock.

Any minute Evangeline could attack him. He didn't think she'd care if other students got in the way at this point.

"Asuna-san..."

"What?"

"I think I'm going out."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Glancing at her briefly he sighed and knew that it would be pointless to argue.

"Do what you want."

"Okay...give me a few minutes to change."

"...Fine."

Just as Asuna was about to walk to the bathroom to change...the power went out.

Negi who had been about to gather up the artifacts that he had chosen froze in place, but next instance felt something collide against him and push him over. The sound of things being scattered across the floor could be heard as Negi went crashing to floor, and Asuna with him.

"Asuna-san, you clumsy fool."

"Damn it, what happened?"

"...Power outage I think."

"Was such a thing sch-WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUCHING!"

Negi had just attempted to stand up and not knowing which side Asuna had landed, stuck his hand out to brace against the ground, and came in contact with her chest.

Without warning he felt something hit him across the head, making him skid across the floor, and ram his head into his desk.

"Damn it Asuna-san! What was that for!"

"For touching me pervert!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know where you were!"

"Perverted Baka!"

"Forget it and try to find a flashlight."

"...We don't have any..."

"...Great. How the heck am I supposed to...you know, never mind...forget it."

Picking himself off from the ground he quickly mumbled, "_Mea Virga*," _and with a whosh of wind, caught his staff in his hand. Feeling around in the darkness he found his chair, grabbed his cloak, and swung it around shoulders.

Asuna who had heard all this transpire hissed, "What are you doing!"

"Going out, like originally planned. I feel like this blackout has something to do with Evangeline."

"What about all those artifacts?"

"I can't tell what's what with no light so I'll have to do without them."

"Then I'm coming too."

"No! You're going to stay right here and not move!"

"If you think I'm going to sit here in complete darkness and wait for you, you must be stupider then I give you credit for."

"Things have changed...I have no idea what this power outage means, but I bet that it helps her someway. So you are going to stay right here!"

Asuna had never heard such a sever tone in his voice before and was taken aback for a moment but quickly retorted back, "Idiot." Standing up and walking in the direction where she had heard Negi's voice, she stopped when she could feel the warm breath coming from his mouth. It smelled like peppermint and tickled her noes slightly.

"How many times do I have to tell you baka. Where you go, I go. And thats not going to change."

"This is different though!"

"How is it any different from when those people from that Magic Association thingy attacked here? Why does it make a difference this time?"

Negi wasn't able to reply to that as he didn't know why he was being so stubborn about it himself. In truth the Kansai Association branch attacking had had much more danger associated with it then what Evangeline was doing, at least with regards to Asuna.

"...Fine, whatever. If I argue about this with you we wont get out of this room for another year. Just promise me this."

"I'm not promising you anything."

"Then you're not coming."

"God you so stupid. ...Fine what is it?"

"Only when I ask you for help do you get anywhere near me. I want you a good fifty yards away from me during any fighting. Do you understand?"

"Fine, Fine. Now lets go already."

"...For some reason I don't believe you even listened to half of what I said."

Asuna completely ignored him and felt her way to the open door before opening it. Outside was a large gathering of students and Negi had to first calm them down, letting them know that he was going to find out what the problem was.

After finally ordering the last girl to return to their room, Asuna and Negi were finally ready.

Looking toward Asuna really quick, Negi saw her nod and nodding back at her, the two rushed down the stairs and out into the darkness.

* * *

Out in the dark grounds Negi started to become anxious, and for some reason excited. Wizard duels that had taken place at the university in Wales had always been supervised by a teacher, so the students wouldn't get out of hand. Negi could help but feel like this was what a proper duel was like. Unaware where the enemy might be. Always expecting them to jump out from anywhere and start attacking.

After a quarter of an hour of walking around Negi finally gave up on the idea that Evangeline would start attacking from anywhere. It didn't seem like her style anyway.

"Hey Negi?"

"What?"

"Is there anywhere you'd think Evangeline-san would be right now."

"Nope. You?"

"...No."

"How long have you known her again?" He asked in an accusing voice

"Oh, shut it."

"I'm just ask-"

Negi quickly spun around as he heard a noise approaching them fast. As Asuna noticed his sudden reaction she took several hasty steps back and was soon many yards behind him. Negi was actually surprised that she had remembered.

As his entire body tensed up and his lips parted slightly to prepare for an incantation, he saw the face of Makie appear out of the darkness. He let his shoulders relax at the sight of her face and started breaking into a smile, when it turned into a frown. Something was off.

Behind him, Asuna had apparently realized it was her and had started hurrying back to Negi.

"Makie-san, what are you doing out here so late-"

"Hold it Asuna-san...somethings wrong."

"What do you-" Though it became apparent as Makie came completely into few. Her face was glazed over, leaving it looking as though she had sleep depravation.

Freezing in her tracks, Asuna looked at Negi and said, "What's wrong with her."

"...If I had to guess, Evangeline-san met her not long ago...and turned her like this."

"You mean she's a vampire!"

"No...more like she's just under Evangeline-sans control."

"Thats terrible."

At this point Makie decided that she was close enough to Negi and opened her mouth. Negi braced himself to be ready just incase she attacked, but he was saved the need for that as she said several words.

"Negi-sensei...Evangeline-sama waits for you at the front entrance of the school in front of the water fountain. Be there or lose several of your students."

Without another word, she did a backflip, landing on top of a low roof, and sprinted off across the top of it before disappearing down the other side. Negi knew that Makie was athletic and great at gymnastics...but this was inhuman.

With mouth gaping openly Asuna blinked confusedly at what had just happened, but was pulled out of her stupor as she saw Negi started sprinting in the direction of the fountain.

"Negi where are you-"

"The fountain in front of the school of course. I can't let my students get involved with this because of my stupidity."

As Asuna hurried to catch up with him she yelled back, "You couldn't have done anything to stop this."

"No, I could have. I should have gone to Takamichi and asked for advice. Instead I decided to act like an adult and try to resolve this without any outside help. Now look at the mess that I've created. Not only have I dragged you, but also other of my students into this mess."

"Well, its not like you forced me to come with you. I volunteered for this."

"Of which I'm thankful for."

Sprinting across the school grounds, where the grass was just starting to turn damp, the two soon skidded to a halt as they saw the outline of the large fountain in front of them.

Squinting in the direction of the fountain, Negi thought he saw that outline of several human shapes huddled around the outer concrete circle of the fountain. Taking several hesitant steps forward he heard the unmistakable cry out as a spell was uttered into the night.

"_Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Glaciālis!"*_

Reacting instinctively, Negi thrust his staff forward and roared, _"Dēflectiō!"*_

The ice spell soared toward Negi but was quickly met with an invisible wind barrier. As the ice spell bounded off his wind barrier, and flew past him, he heard a loud shriek from behind him.

Spinning around he saw that the Asuna had not had enough time to keep the fifty yard difference between the two, and now the ice spell was directed towards her. However before he was even able to think of a defensive spell to use, the ice spell ricochet off to the sides, as though it was met with an invisible shield.

He had forgotten again about her rare ability.

After heaving a sigh of relief that she was okay, he turned back to the source of the problem. As the night sky lit up with the full moon, that had momentarily been hidden behind the clouds, Negi now saw that a group of girls were huddled around the fountain. Makie, Akira, and Ako were huddled around a woman that Negi had never before seen in his life. At least...he couldn't remember seeing her before in his life.

"Ah...Negi-sensei, glad that you could come."

"...Huh? ...Sensei?"

A small pause happened during which Negi looked puzzled at the woman with long blonde hair.

Shaking her head as though she was frustrated, she frowned back at Negi and said, "How can you not even recognize one of your own students?"

"...Student? I've never seen you before in my class. Furthermore...aren't you a little old to be in school?"

With a loud shriek the woman stood up to her full height with her hands shaking in fury she yelled, "ITS ME YOU IDIOT. ITS EVANGELINE!"

Immediately at her words, Evangeline changed back to her original form with her child like body.

Negi felt his head split open as he realized who he had been ogling, and as much that he didn't want to admit it, had been inthralled by her body.

"E-Evangeline-san!"

"Of course you idiot! Who else did you expect!"

Negi didn't feel like speaking, as he thought anything he might say would insinuate just how much of a pervert he had been moments before.

Forgetting about everything that transpired in these last few seconds Negi said back, "Why did you threaten other students? This is between you and me!"

"Oh that...well, I figured you'd rush over here if you knew that your students were in danger. Seems like it worked."

"Leave them out of this if you'd be so kind."

"I don't know if I want to though. They make such good servants."

Caressing the underside of Makie's chin she playfully curled her fingers of her other hand in Akira's hair.

"They would look wonderful in maid clothes...don't you think? Negi-sensei..."

At her words Negi quickly dashed towards her, though was quickly halted as the three girls took defensive position around their master.

"Evangeline-san, leave them out of this!"

"Sorry that they're so loyal to their master. Then again, I suppose they can't help it."

With the snapping of her fingers, she ordered her three servants to attack Negi.

Not expecting something as dirty as this, Negi was forced to instinctively dodge everything they threw at him. Dropping his staff where he stood, he did a flip backwards as Akira and Makie reached out to grab his arms. After sliding across the ground as he landed, he looked up to see Akira about to slide tackle him. Jumping above her just in time, he had to change positions in mid air as Makie's leg came down to greet him. As he jerked his body in mid air he felt a hand grab his foot and swing him down to the ground. Hitting his head hard on the cement ground, he looked up to see Ako standing over him with a glazed look in her eyes.

"A-Ako-san...break out of Evangeline's control..."

"Gomen Negi-sensei...I can only obey masters orders."

Picking him up with surprising strength, she swung him through the air and let go of him as she started to spin faster. Negi, who had been getting dizzy, quickly opened his eyes just in time to see a brick wall directly in front of him. Flipping himself around, he pressed both feet on the brick wall and kicked off against it with tremendous speed. He had decided to focus on the problem, namely Evangeline.

Things didn't go as he planned though as the three girls appeared in front of Evangeline and appeared determined to prevent him from engaging their master. He was therefore forced to execute a Wind Step in mid air and quickly veered off to his right, back to where he had started.

Wincing slightly at the large bump that had appeared on his head as he had struck the concrete, he looked up to see Evangeline smirking at him, while her three servants stood grouped around her.

"Damn it...what am I supposed to-"

"Negi!"

Negi turned his head to see Asuna kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face. As he opened his mouth to say that he was all right, she quickly examined his head and found the large bump that had appeared there.

"...You okay?"

"Its fine."

"No its not. You're getting kicked around by a couple of fifteen year old girls."

"Its not like I can hit back or anything. I can't hit a girl no matter what happens to me, moreover they're my students."

"Fine then...let me handle this."

"...Huh?"

"Let me deal with the three of them. It should be fine if I fight them. Right?"

"We shouldn't have to fight them!"

"But you can't just keep letting them kick the crap out of you."

"They're my students, and anything that happens to them is because of me."

"Oh stop your worrying." Standing up, Asuna walked in front of Negi and said, "I wont hurt them. I'll just incapacitate them."

"...How can you do that but not hurt them?"

"...Let me worry about that."

Negi could have laughed. Really, this tomboyish girl standing in front of him was extremely stupid. But because of that stupidity she didn't worry about the necessities and plunged straight ahead without any worry.

Pushing himself off the ground he put a hand on Asuna's shoulders and said, "Okay then, I'm counting on you to deal with them."

Smiling back, Asuna gave him the thumbs up and said, "Leave it to me."

Nodding Negi shifted his eyes so they were solely locked on Evangeline. She seemed to have heard everything that Asuna and Negi had just said to each other and had just told her servants to keep 'the idiot girl busy' while she dealt with Negi.

As the scufflings of the girls started to sound further and more distant, even though they were actually close, Negi and Evangeline continued to stare back at each other, both willing the other to make the first move. Such intensity could be felt from the two of them that all other noise was blocked out of their surroundings.

Then, at the same moment, they both yelled their spells to the night.

"_Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister: Ūndētrīgintā Spīritūs Lūcis! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Lūcis!"* _

"_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac: Ūndētrīgintā Spīritūs __Glaciālis_! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Glaciālis!"* 

The fifty-eight arrows met in mid air and the combination of light and ice exploded outward, creating an erie icy mist that sparkled.

Dashing off to the left, Negi saw that Evangeline had done similar and was following his movements precisely.

Firing off another volley of arrows, Negi blinked only to find that Evangeline had disappeared. Looking wildly around for any sign of movement he heard an incantation above him and looked up.

"_Septendecim Spīritūs Glaciālēs Coeuntēs Inimīcum Concidant! Sagitta Magica Seriēs Glaciālis!"*_

Seventeen arrows of icesoared towards the ground, straight at Negi. Thrusting his staff upwards he quickly chanted. "_Vertātur Tempestās Vēris! Nōbīs Prōtectiōnem Āeriālem! Flāns Pariēs Ventī Vertentis!"*_

A large tornado like barrier engulfed him, deflecting the spell off to the side.

Dissipating the spell, Negi looked to see Evangeline hovering effortlessly above him

"Evangeline-san, why do you want my blood so bad? Isn't there a way that doesn't involve my blood?"

Evangeline hesitated for a second before saying, "I've waited for this opportunity for fifteen years. I'm not about to pass up the change to leave this school forever."

"...Fifteen years?"

"...When your idiot father confined me here he promised that he would lift the curse after I spent two years here. Of course the fool disappeared shortly after confining me here and I've been stuck inside the boundary of the school ever since."

"But...there must be some other way to lift the curse."

"If somebody such as myself has not found a way then there isn't one," she shrieked!"

Soaring even higher into the night sky, she turned around and chanted, "_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac: Septentrīgintā Spīritūs Obscūrī! Sagitta Magica! Seriēs Obscūrī!"* _

Negi had just enough time to recognize that she was firing thirty-seven arrows at him and that he didn't have enough time to counter. Quickly diving off the his right, he landed in a large bush just in time as the arrows collided with the ground, creating a good size crater.

The only thing that was going through his mind was, 'She can even use darkness? Just how many of the elemental arrows can she use?'

Picking himself out of the bush he was slightly annoyed that she was sitting cross legged in the air with a bored expression on her face.

"Is this really the best that the thousand masters son can do?"

"Tch..."

Negi was starting to run out of options. She was clearly more power than he was and had more experience to boot. Though...he might have a change. What she had said early made him think of a plan.

Ignoring her comments directed at him he quickly grabbed his staff and took off in the direction of the school bridge that separated Mahora, from downtown. If he could make it there then he might have a change of defeating her

As Negi took off, Evangeline tilted her head to the side in surprise. She had not expected this course of action from Negi.

"Maybe the kid does have a brain in that large head of his..."

Shrugging as though the outcome was the same in the end, she quickly took off after him.

* * *

Meanwhile Takamichi and Konoemon were standing in Konoemon's office, looking out the window onto the school grounds.

"Do you think its best to let him deal with this on his own," asked Takamichi?

Sighing, Konoemon stroked his beard for a brief instant before saying, "Evangeline is still one of his students and as such this is something that he will have to overcome. He has a strange power though, that kid. It makes you want to believe that he can make anything happen."

"Well, thats what it was like with Nagi after all."

"Hmmm...too true. Though I wonder...can he really break class 2-A's streak of dead last in the exams?"

* * *

Negi could feel the adrenaline pounding in his ears as he streaked towards the academy bridge. Shortly after being in the air, Evangeline had caught up with him and had so far sent spell after spell of ice and darkness at him. Negi had no choice but to swerve out of the way of all of them, as casting a spell behind him was next to impossible.

As he swerved out of the way of a particular large one he quickly looked behind him and was shocked that Evangeline had halted her attacks.

"What is she do-"

"_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac-"_

Negi answered his own question and put on a large burst of speed as behind him, Evangeline had started chanting a high level spell.

"_Veniant Spīritūs Glaciālēs! Extentantur Āerī! Tundram et Glaciem, Locī Noctis Albae! Crystallizātiō Tellustris!"*_

Ice crystals formed out of the water vapor in the clouds over head and poured down on top of Negi. Swerving out of the way he was able to avoid most of the attacks with minor cuts and scrapes on his arm.

Then, just as he thought that he was in the clear, he heard her chanting something else.

"_Undēsexāgintā Spīritūs Glaciālēs Coeuntēs Inimīcum Concidant! Sagitta Magica Seriēs Glaciālis!"*_

Negi heard the rush of air as fifty-nine arrows of ice charged toward him. Doing a barrel roll in mid air he was able to avoid the brunt of the attack but had to hold his tongue as he felt several arrows smash into his back. The skin on his back turned raw red for a moment and then a pale pink as the top layer of skin cells froze over, creating a slushy feeling. Next moment he felt several more arrows pierce his right arm and felt it go numb instantly. Loosing the grip on his staff he slid off to the side and started a free fall while high up in the air.

Feeling the last amounts of his strength fade away he blinked his eyes open and quickly realized that if he didn't do something he would die.

Turning around in his eighty feet free fall he quickly executed several Wind Steps so that he could grab ahold of his staff. With it securely in his hands he managed to hold on as it directed him towards to ground.

As he felt to the ground in a heap he heard Evangeline's soft foot falls nearing him. Clutching his numb arm he stood up shakily and looked at her. She seemed to be unfazed.

"Evangeline...san..."

She stared back at him coldly for a brief moment before walking over to him. Kicking him squarely in the chest he toppled backwards. As Negi feel backwards Evangeline then kicked his staff out of reach and kneeled next to him.

"While you had the right idea to get outside the school boundaries, you never had a chan-"

In mid sentence Negi hurriedly forced himself to sit up and pressed both his hands around her midriff. Rolling out of the way quickly, he looked back just in time to see chain of magic appearing from the ground and wrapping there way around Evangeline. The binding magic circle that he had quickly uttered as he fell from the air had worked. Evangeline was trapped.

"Oh? Impressive I must say. To be able to use time delay magic without me noticing is not an easy feat."

"...Thanks...I think. Now...I'll only release you if you promise to not control the other students, or drink my blood."

"I see no reason why I should agree to that."

"...Its not like you really have a choice."

"From your perspective I may not...but from mine."

Next second Negi was sent flying backwards by the force of the rocket that had exploded directly in front of him. Wincing slightly at the shrapnel that had pierced his skin he blinked back to see Chachamaru standing next to Evangeline.

"Ch-Chachamaru-san?"

Without acknowledging Negi's appearance, Chachamaru proceeded to destroy the magical chains that bound her master.

Soon Evangeline was free and rubbing her wrists that had several raw red marks on them. Glancing at Negi who was standing still with wide unblinking eyes she sighed and said, "Really? Did you expect that to stop me? I've lived for several hundred years so of course I'd have a counter measure for something like that. You are just a kid. I don't know what I was expecting."

Rushing forward, she quickly grabbed onto Negi's neck and forced him to the pavement, digging her nails into his skin.

"Now then...lets hurry this up so I can leave this loathsome school."

"Evangeline...-san..."

"Quiet and let me take my time. If your lucky I wont suck you dry. Maybe if you beg you can become one of my servants."

"...As...If..."

"Well, the option is still open later, that is...if you're around to take that option. Now if you don't mind...Itadakimasu!"

Negi closed his eyes as he saw two large fangs baring down on him. Any minute now he feel a sharp pain in his neck and the sense that he soon be a shriveled up raisin. Instead-

"BAKA NEGI!"

Negi felt the pressure on his neck lax slightly and hurried an annoying, "Tch. Another interruption."

Opening his eyes, he saw a small figure at the other end of the bridge sprinting towards him.

"Asuna-san?"

Evangeline grimaced back at the approaching interruption and mumbled, "I'm sick of all these annoyances."

Chanting softly she said, "_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac: Septendecim Spīritūs Glaciālēs Coeuntēs Inimīcum Concidant! Sagitta-"*_

"WHATTHEHELLDOYOUTHINKYOU'REDOINGTOMYROOMATE!"

Evangeline had misjudged the distance between herself and Asuna, because next second, Asuna was flying through the air with both feet outwards and kicked Evangeline square in the chest.

Evangeline had just enough time to wonder why her barrier had failed to protect her again, before Chachamaru scooped her up and carried her a safe distance away.

"Master, only fifteen minutes of the black out remain."

"Tch...I know."

* * *

Negi wasn't sure how long he had blacked out for, but he knew it was long enough to have a terrible dream. One that involved Asuna rescuing him on a white pony...which turned out to be Chamo. One thing was certain he had a pounding headache.

"Wake up you idiot!"

Negi felt something slap his face hard and opened his eyes, only to receive another slap.

"Stop it! I'm awake!"

"About time, baka!"

Negi blinked back and in the dim light of the street lamps on the bridge could just make out the outline of Asuna's face extremely close to him.

"A-Asuna-san?"

"Yeah, and its a good thing I got here when I did. You were about to turn into more of an idiot than you already are."

"Well, thanks for being so compassionate."

"Anytime"

"...And? Did you deal with Makie-san, Akira-san, and Ako-san."

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, I just had to tickle them long enough and they passed out."

"...I can't imagine that working."

"Don't complain about it. Any second later any you would have been gone."

"...I suppose."

"And?"

"...Huh?"

"Aren't you going to ask something of me?"

"...Oh...that..."

"That! This is a little more important then simply that."

Negi was saved the need to reply as he heard something talking around his ankle.

"Aniki, I've got everything set up for you."

Looking down he was surprised to see Chamo already there with a marker in his hand and a pactio circle already drawn out underneath.

"Go for Aniki. All you have to do is go CHUU-"

Asuna's foot came down hard on top of his tail.

"Shut it you perverted ermine."

With Chamo officially silenced, Negi and Asuna returned to looking at each other. Though both of them were so embarrassed that they couldn't keep eye contact.

"This definitely doesn't count as a first time," mumbled Asuna.

"Wha...Oh yeah...right..."

"...Have you kissed someone before?"

"...No...well, yes. But it was more of play kissing, so it doesn't count. Nothing serious like this."

"How the hell can this be counted as serious!"

"I ment that this is serious in the sense that we're forming a pacti-"

"Oh shut it and come here!"

Grabbing Negi by the front of his shirt Asuna practically dragged him to her lips.

Negi wasn't sure if it was the night air or what, but as soon as his lips met hers he felt a cold chill travel down his spine. The entire lasted less than two seconds of which were engraved in Negi's memory. The soft feel of her lips pressed against his. The warmth that was generated from the contact of flesh against flesh. He felt as though every cell in his body suddenly inflated and could make him fly. What the hell was this?

Even though these things went through Negi's mind, he was the first to pull back. This was a pactio after all made solely for the purpose of defeating Evangeline.

Trying to push his thoughts aside he glanced at Asuna who stood their with the most passive look on her face that he had ever seen. He didn't want to admit it...but he had felt something, of which he couldn't explain what it was. Then did her facial features mean that it had all been something trivial to her? He didn't want to think that honestly. Well, at least, he didn't want to think that it had been that disgusting for her.

Feeling that he should do something to bridge the gap in conversation, he said, "...That wasn't so bad I guess."

"...Yeah...it wasn't real after all...heh...ahhhhhh."

Asuna's face turned bright red as she turned around. 'It didn't mean anything! I didn't feel anything! I most certainly didn't feel anything!" She repeatedly told herself in her head.

"Err...Asuna-san...you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I! Huh? Does something seem wrong? I didn't think so!"

"No...you just seem nervous is all."

"Nervous...how could I be nervous? I just kissed you after all. Why would I be nervous after kissing you when I had already planned that Takahata-sensei would be my first kiss?"

Negi's face made contact with the concrete ground faster then Chamo was able to strip a girl. Grimacing into the concrete ground he thought, 'How the hell can she be thinking about Takamichi and kissing at a time like this?'

Straightening back up he was going to open his mouth and say that she was an idiot for even about Takahata about a time like this, when the pactio circle beneath them glowed suddenly.

"...Huh?"

Asuna's skirt blew over her waist, during which Negi caught a brief flash of white. Trying to repel this sudden mental image of her panties he looked down at the magic circle. He had heard that something like this happens when you issue a pactio, but had never really believed it.

As the magic circle ebbed away, nothing was left on the ground except for a small card of which Negi was able to see a picture of Asuna and the words, '_Ensis Exsequēns,' _displayed on it_. _Frowning at the Latin phrase on the card he figured he'd worry about another time when his life was in danger.

Looking back at Asuna he almost face palmed again as he saw that she was curled up on the ground muttering the words, 'it didn't mean anything,' over and over.

Sighing heavily, Negi said, "Come on, get up. We've issued a provisional contract and I'm not about to let those two-seconds of my life go to waste."

"How the hell do you think I feel about this!"

"You agreed to it, and I agreed to it. I'll complain about it as much as you want later...because I'm not entirely happy about kissing you either."

"That makes two of us."

"Enough!"

Grabbing Asuna by the hand he quickly steered her out from behind the metal beam that they had been hiding behind. As they came into the brightness of the street lights, they had to squint at the two people waiting for them.

"Seems as though you've issued a provisional contact," said Evangeline. Continuing, she said, "Don't expect that it will do you much good."

Surprisingly it was Asuna that retorted back, "Tch...so full of yourself. When we beat you, you'll have to go down on your hands and knees and beg for mercy."

"Hmmm...not a bad idea. I think I'll make you do that when **you** lose to me."

Negi was then forced to hold onto Asuna's collar so she wouldn't charge at Evangeline. "Don't let her annoy you," he sighed.

"I don't care even if she is a classmate of mine. I'm going to give that brat a proper beating."

"Can you stop moving for a second and let me talk to you!"

"What!"

"Listen...I want you to keep Chachamaru busy while I deal with Evangeline."

"...How am I supposed to go up against her, again?"

"...Damn it...I forgot. Evangeline knocked my staff away so I can't even cast spells."

"What? You useless idiot!"

"Shut it and let me think for a min-"

It was then that Negi noticed something sticking out of the pocket of Asuna's shirt.

"Asuna-san...what's that?"

Asuna was about to kick him between the legs when he had pointed at her chest, but quickly realized what he was referring to. Reaching into the pocket of her shirt, she brought out something that looked like some children's toy.

"What is this?"

"...A wand thats given to children. Its a practice wand. Its the first instrument that you'd learn to practice magic with."

"...It looks like something you'd fine in a dollar bin at a gift shop."

"Well, it serves its purpose I suppose. It must have somehow gotten into your pocket back at the dormitories."

"So...?"

"I can fight with this."

Asuna nodded and handed Negi the wand over. As Negi inspected it he realized that this thing wouldn't hold up long if he casted to many spells. If he used his highest level it would almost certainly break. He'd have to finish things before they got to that.

"...Okay...here goes."

Chanting softly with his wand pointed at Asuna, he said, "_Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister: Sis Mea Pars! Ministra Negiī, Kagurazaka Asuna."*_

A gold circle enveloped Asuna, twirling her twins hair tails around. It was like Negi's magic was filling her body. The warmth was almost like the kiss and Asuna found herself thinking back moments before when Negi's lips were...no, best not to think about that.

Suddenly her body felt incredibly light, and she felt as if she could fly.

"Negi...what is this?"

"In simple terms you're borrowing my magic power. While the contract is activated you borrow my magical powers and fight with it."

As Asuna opened and closed her fists she could really notice a difference. "You know...this is pretty cool."

"Its ment to help us win this. Now focus, I want you to lead Chachamaru off to the side. Don't hurt her though...she's still a student.

"Yeah, yeah, stop worrying."

Turning around briefly, Asuna winked at him and stood to one side of the bridge facing Chachamaru. Which left Negi and Evangeline facing each other.

"You sure you want to do that? This is her first battle...one blunder and thats it."

"I believe in her. Besides," smiling slightly Negi said, "She's so stupid that she doesn't know how to give up."

"Tch."

As Evangeline glanced towards where Chachamaru and Asuna had started to trade blows, she bit her lip, drawing blood. From her perspective Asuna was one of the most unique people she had ever met. Of course she had wondered, since Konoemon had chosen her as Konoka's roommate. But even so...the ability to cancel all forms of magic was something only a gifted few were born with. Didn't that mean she would have had to have magical parents? Well, she'd worry about that another time."

Turning back to the matter at hand, Evangeline grinned evilly as she raised her hands towards Negi and chanted.

"_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac: Septendecim Spīritūs Glaciālēs Coeuntēs Inimīcum Concidant! Sagitta Magica Seriēs Glaciālis!"* _

Negi barely had enough time to think, 'I suppose I can't mess around anymore,' before he started chanting.

"_Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister: Septendecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis!"*_

The two spells collided in mid air and was accompanied by a large explosion. Dashing through the cloud of smoke, Evangeline quickly followed up with another volley of ice arrows as Negi executed several wind steps to dodge them all.

While in a free fall he rolled over and said, "_Undecim Spīritūs Āeriālēs Coeuntēs Sagittent Inimīcum! Sagitta Magica, Seriēs Fulgurālis!"*_

Smirking slightly Evangeline said, "Is that the best you can do?"

Quickly deflecting it she casted twenty-nine ice and darkness arrows simultaneously, with each hand. Negi was forced to erect a wind barrier to deflect them all and as the icy haze cleared, he received a sharp kick to his neck sending him reeling backwards.

'Damn...she's fast...'

Picking himself off the ground he felt himself go flying forward as she kick him hard in the back. Pushing against the ground with one hand he managed to flip himself over, just as her foot came crashing towards his head. Reacting instinctively he blocked the blow by throwing his arms above his head, but he felt his knees shake from the sheer weight of her kick.

Sliding out from under here he opened his mouth the chant but was met with a quick knee to the stomach. Feeling the wind knocked of him he jumped back several places while clutching his stomach.

Standing up to her full height Evangeline laughed back and said, "You'll never win if you aren't even able to cast a spell. As long as I keep on attacking you wont have a change. Thats the sole purpose for issuing a pactio. So the person that casts the spells is able to stand back and chant while the person up front protects them. Furthermore you seem to suck at hand to hand combat, so as long as I keep close you can't do anything.

Quickly dashing forward again, Evangeline kicked him in the side, forcing his already sore body into a large metal beam. Negi had to hold his tongue so the agony he was feeling wouldn't escape his mouth.

Standing up shakily he felt a vice like grip grab the wrist of one of his hands while he felt another similar grip constricting his wind pipe. It appeared that Evangeline had stopped playing around.

"Is this really all you've got? I expected more from somebody who had just a high pedigree. Well I suppose this is your first time maintaining a contract also so you're wasting a lot of magic on that alone. Its amazing! You have just a large store of magical power yet you use it so poorly and have no control over it. Its like a wild animal."

Negi could feel her hot breath and smell the blood lust in her voice now.

"So...Negi-sensei...if you don't mind, I'm tired of waiting."

Opening her mouth wide, she prepared to bite the side of his exposed neck one a loud yell came from somewhere to their left.

"NEGI! IF YOU TURN INTO A MINDLESS ZOMBIE, I SWEAR I WONT FORGIVE YOU!"

Opening one of his eyes, Negi managed to look over at Asuna, who had several cuts and bruises along her arms and legs, and a large purple welt, swelling just below her right eye.

"DON'T YOU DARE LOSE! I'M YOUR PARTNER NOW, SO SHOW ME WHAT YOU MENT BEFORE ABOUT TRUSTING EACH OTHER!"

"How touching," smirked Evangeline. "If nothing else you two trust each oth-"

Suddenly Negi started laughing. He didn't know why he was laughing or what had triggered it. Asuna was being her usual self. So why was he laughing so hard?

Really he was being an idiot.

"Heh...thanks Asuna-san. I needed that."

Smirking up at Evangeline, Negi quickly pressed his hands against her flat chest and said, "_Āēr Captūrae."*_

It was more the fact of Negi doing something so bold that Evangeline didn't respond right away as the twenty-nine arrows of air constricted her movements. The delay spell that Negi had performed while Evangeline had been talking had worked perfectly.

Rubbing his noes he looked down at the child like body of Evangeline who stood there stunned at his actions. Even Asuna who had watched this was a bit speechless at his nerve.

"...Ah...about that. Sorry but I didn't really intend for it happen like this. It was just kinda the closest place my hand-"

"Y-Y-YO-Y-YOU...PERVERT!"

Breaking free of the the chains in one fluid motion Evangeline quickly jumped back several places with her hands covering her chest. "Per-Pervert! Wha-What are you doing...tou-touching a girls chest?

"_..._Well...its not like there was anything to touch."

A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Asuna's face at his words. 'Did he just say what I think he said?'

Next moment a large flurry of spells soared towards Negi, with any sense of direction. Most of them ended up flying over his head.

Panting heavily after her large onslaught, Evangeline swallowed a large lump in her throat and muttered, "I don't care..."

Turning around, she soared up into the air and faced the bridge.

"I'll drink your blood after you're dead I suppose. As long as you don't loose to many of your limbs it should be fine."

Chanting in a dangerous voice she said, "_Lic Lac La Lac Lilac."_

Negi's smirk soon turned into a frown as he noticed the very air changing with her spell. Looking above himself, he noticed that large black clouds had started to swirl around the bridge where everyone was. Looking back at Evangeline he could only guess that she was going to use a high class spell.

Quickly mimicking her he said, "_Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister."_

"_Veniant Spīritūs Glaciālēs Obscūrantēs!" _

"_Veniant Spīritūs Āeriālēs Fulgurientēs!"_

"_Cum Obscūrātiōne Flet Tempestās Nivālis!"_

"_Cum Fulgurātiōne Flet Tempestās Austrīna!"_

"_Nivis Tempestās Obscurāns!" _

"_Jovis Tempestās Fulguriēns!"_

The torrent of ice and lightning collided against each other and sent out a shock wave in all directions. It even started moving the water under the bridge from the shear force of power.

As Negi's hand trembled to maintain a hold on his makeshift wand, he sensed that the practice wand would soon break.

'...Damn...just a little more.'

Giving one final push, he felt a brief surge of magic release out of the end of his wand. Jerking his hand backwards at the release of magic, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist and immediately afterwards, noticed the wand disintegrating in his hand.

Clutching his wrist in his other hand he looked up in the sky to see Evangeline hovering above him, with a frown on her face. Did he just surprise her?

"...Tch...didn't think you'd be able to counter it. Not like you can do it again though."

Raising her hands up in the air she started chanting, _"Lic Lac La Lac Lilac."_

Negi froze as he heard her chanting the same spell that she had used moments before.

"_Veniant Spīritūs Glaciālēs Obscūrantēs! Cum Obscūrātiōne Flet Tempestās Nivālis! Nivis Tempestās Obscurāns!"*_

Negi closed his eyes as he heard the spells completion, waiting for the moment when he'd feel the blood spurting from his body. Though nothing happened.

After several seconds with his eyes closed he slowly opened one of them. Evangeline was still hovering in the same spot, but this time her eyes were wide in surprise. She had failed to cast the spell.

As Negi opened his other eye he heard Chachamaru yell from somewhere off to his left. "Master! The lights in the academy are turning back on. The blackout is over!"

"Don't tell me something that I already-WHAHHHH!"

Evangeline suddenly sank like a rock out of the sky, before falling into the water below.

"Cha-Chachamaru...do so-something!"

Evangeline started flailing around in the water, as though she couldn't swim. At which point Chachamaru realized that Evangeline _really _couldn't swim. What's more her circuitry could suffer severe damage from water log.

Meanwhile, Asuna had rushed over to Negi's side and was now frowning at his state. He had minor cuts and bruises all along his arms and legs and a large gash on his right arm where Evangeline's ice arrows had struck before.

After making sure that Negi was able to move Asuna crossed her arms and with a sigh said, "Jeez, I leave you alone for less then five minutes and look what happens to you."

"Not like your in a right state to tell me that."

"I can handle myself. Its you that overexert yourself."

"Fine, Fine. Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

As Asuna was about to reply back, Chachamaru chose this moment to interrupt.

"Negi-sensei!"

"Huh? Chachamaru-san? ...Oh, yeah. What happened to Evangeline? Where is she?"

"...Master no longer has her powers, so she's a regular student. I know she wouldn't want me to ask this of you...but please save her."

Leaning over the guardrail of the bridge, Negi could see her flailing around in the water with her head going under and then shooting out again as she tried to gasp for breath.

Without replying to Chachamaru's request, or giving any thought about the aftermath, Negi jumped off the bridge and dove into the water. It was a mark of how shocked Asuna was that she didn't even start yelling at him.

Treading water quickly, he managed to reach Evangeline even with his clothes weighing him down.

Reaching his hand out to her, he said, "Evangeline-san, hurry up and grab hold of my hand."

With her mouth filling up from water she gurgled back, "Shut it! I can manage by myself, and no way am I gonna except help from the likes of you."

"God you're so stubborn even when powerless."

Ignoring Evangeline's yells and protests, Negi quickly dove under the water beneath her. Grabbing her by the waist he hoisted her out of the water and onto his shoulder. It was a matter of how small her body was that he was able to do this.

"Put me down you idiot!"

"...I'm not putting you down until you're back on shore."

"Put me down this instance you-"

Negi lightly hit her on top of her mop of blonde hair in a silent gesture.

"Why did you?"

"Its a lot more difficult to swim with you flailing around."

"..."

"Anyway I wanted to ask you something."

"...What?"

"How do you know my father?"

Evangeline snorted and said, "Why would you care about that?"

"Obviously you hold bitterness towards him, so I wanted to know why you hate him so much."

"Its because he confined me to this school!"

"Did you know him very well?"

Evangeline held her silence.

Sighing, Negi said, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. But I'd feel better as your teacher if I knew what was bothering you."

"...Okay so I knew him for a while...big deal."

"What do you mean a while?"

"I mean that I traveled with him for a while. Happy?"

Negi practically froze in mid stroke. Hesitating slightly he said, "How many years ago was this?"

"Sixteen...maybe seventeen. Why does this matter?"

"Because when I was four...I met my father for the first time. I never really knew if it was a hallucination brought on by my own desire to see him. But I received that staff and cloak from him so I assumed it was him. But now I know for a fact that he was alive at least. Some at the university claimed that he had died."

"Not true. Your father saved me while I was being chased by some villagers that thought I was a witch. Course they weren't far from the truth. After that I traveled with him for a while, and he eventually confined me here after I said that I'd chase him all over the earth just to stay him"

"...You didn't happen to be in love with him did you?"

"MOST CERTAINLY NOT!"

"Ah, stop flailing around."

"Take it back! Take it back!"

"Okay fine...I didn't mean it."

As Negi and Evangeline lapsed into silence, Evangeline had one last thing to ask him.

"Hey how come you saved me. I had been trying to kill you moments before. Was it because Chachamaru asked you to."

"Oh? You knew about that?"

"She would have jumped in herself, but she might have short circuited."

"Well, she did ask me. But had she not I would have done the same thing."

"...Why?"

"Thats a stupid question. You're one of my students."

If Negi would have turned his head slightly to his right, he would have seen a pink faced Evangeline.

As they neared closer to the shore, Evangeline thought as she looked up at the starry sky, "He's just like that idiot."

* * *

"Furthermore I want you to promise that you wont do something like this again. And that you'll come to class everyday from now on"

"...Fine," replied Evangeline.

Negi smiled back and said, "Good. Then I'll expect you tomorrow for morning class."

Evangeline nodded silently before throwing Negi a glare before walking off to her house.

As Evangeline disappeared through the trees Negi let his shoulders sag laid down in the damp grass.

"I suppose I've still got a ways to go before she trusts me."

"...You still did fairly well, considering what you were up against."

"Thats about the highest amount of praise I could expect of you, Asuna-san."

"Oh shut it. I can be kind when I want to."

"Yeah, Yeah. ...Shouldn't we be getting back to the dormitories soon. Konoka is probably getting suspicious."

"...I hadn't thought of that. Don't want her to misunderstand."

"I think we're long past that the point of misunderstanding."

As Negi said this he glanced at Asuna which set a scarlet blush across her face. Realizing the wrong meaning that had gotten across to her, he quickly tried to fix the situation. Waving his hands in front of him, he said, "No I wasn't referring to earlier. I just ment that people always seem to see us together so they misunderstand."

"Idiot! Why would I be thinking of that?" Of course she was talking about the kiss.

"No...well, I just assumed."

"You assumed wrong then!"

Negi wasn't in the mood to argue right now. Placing both hands on his knees, he sprung upward and started walking back to the dormitories.

Yelling at his back, Asuna said, "Stupid moron. ...Ah wait for me at least."

Sighing as he heard Asuna's approaching foot steps, he looked up at the sky and wondered what he had gotten himself into. His problems were just starting, as the exams drew closer.

* * *

List of Spells: (As usual in order they were uttered)

1. Magic Arrow! Ice Series!

2. Deflection

3. 29 Spirits of Light! Magic Arrow! Light Series!

4. 29 Spirits of Ice! Magic Arrow! Ice Series!

5. Let the 17 Gathering Spirits of Ice Cut the Enemy to Pieces! Magic Arrow, Ice Series!

6. Let the Spring Storm Turn! (Send) the Protection of Air to Us! Blusterous Tornado Barrier!

7. 37 Spirit of Darkness! Magic Arrow! Darkness Series!

8. Let the Ice Spirits Come! They are Extended to the Atmosphere! Tundra and Glacier of the Region of White Night! Glaciation of the Earth!

9. Let the 59 Gathering Spirits of Ice Cut the Enemy to Pieces! Magic Arrow, Ice Series!

10. May You Be a Part of Me! Attendant of Negi, Kagurazaka Asuna!

11. Let the 17 Gathering Spirits of Ice Cut the Enemy to Pieces! Magic Arrow, Ice Series! (same as 5)

12. Let the 17 Gathering Spirits of Air Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Lightning Series!

13. Let the 11 Gathering Spirits of Air Shoot Arrows at the Enemy! Magic Arrow, Lightning Series!

14. Binding Air!

15. Let the Air and Lightning Spirits Come! Let the Southern Storm Blow with Lightning! Jupiter's Thunderstorm!

16. Let the Dark Spirits of Ice Come! Let the Snowstorm Blow with the Darkness! Dark Snowstorm!

17. (Look Up)


	10. Library Treck

**And so here is the next one. ...I don't have anything to say really other than Negi is a total badass in the manga currently. **

**Also I'd like to thank everybody that has shown an interest in this story. I know there is a lack of NegixAsuna fics and MSN stuff overall on this site. So continue reading this and showing your support for a NegixAsuna pairing.**

* * *

Negi was in a sheer panic

It was a week after his battle with Evangeline and he honestly couldn't see a glimmer a hope anywhere he looked. The exams were just around the corner. Or, more so, exactly four days from now.

Leaning back in the chair that was reserved for any work he needed to get done he looked around at the mess that was flung around the kitchen. Earlier that day Asuna had the sudden idea to cook dinner for Takamichi. Apparently she was under the delusion that he would have enjoyed a home cooked meal from her. It had certainly given Negi something to laugh about as she attempted to follow Konoka's instruction.

Now it looked like a nuclear meltdown had happened in front of the stove. The counter tops that Konoka usually kept spotless were black from soot, while the pots that were on the stove had somehow formed into twisted melted pieces of metal that had molded with the stove. Negi had to suppress a laugh even now as he remembered Asuna's face as she flung her arms in the air, yelling at Konoka to tell her what to do.

'Focus!' He told himself.

Looking back at the papers that were on his desk he tried to absorb himself in his students work, but found that he just wasn't able to right now. If only he could resolve this by magic.

It was something that he gave a great deal of thought to recently. He knew there was a spell that would boost a persons mental capacity for a short period of time, and had considered applying it to Asuna as a test. Though he immediately rebuked the idea as he remembered the side effects of the stimulus. Asuna was dumb, and he didn't want her to become even stupider because of his ineptness.

Leaning back in his chair, again he sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. How the hell did it come to his?

Hearing voices coming from the other side of the door, he leaned to far backwards and tipped over in his surprise.

"Negi-kun were back-"

Konoka and Asuna had opened the door just in time to see Negi flailing through the air as he spectacularly landed on his back.

It was all Asuna could do to not fall flat on the ground and start pounding her fist on the ground from laughter. Meanwhile, Konoka had rushed forward and hoisted her arms under Negi's armpits and attempted to pull him up. Though she found that she couldn't do it even if she was taking steroids.

Passing it off as nothing serious, Negi smiled at Konoka and said, "Ah...thanks for the consideration Konoka-san."

Blushing slightly, Konoka replied, "Oh..you're welcome Negi-kun."

Standing up, Negi looked in Asuna's direction and frowned. "You can stop laughing already Asuna-san."

Asuna had tears of laughter in her eyes as she looked at Negi. "Whahhh, you should have seen your face."

"Yes I'm sure it was hilarious. ...So? What did you buy?"

This shut Asuna up instantly as she remembered the entire reason they had left. After failing miserably at cooking, Konoka had managed to persuade her to go downtown and order take out. Granted, they needed new pots now any ways so it was a ready excuse.

Grumbling slightly, Asuna said, "Yeah we got the food and the pots." She said this as she picked up the two plastic bags that she had discarded when she started laughing.

"Good, I was wondering when you were going to get back."

"...Why?"

"First I'm hungry. Second I wanted to talk to you about something serious."

Asuna was rather taken aback. Since when did Negi have something serious that he wanted to talk about? Was it the pactio? Both of them had tried to steer clear of that particular point in time. Though his next words threw her thought process completely off.

"I want to talk to both of you actually."

With the Chinese food cleared away, and the dishes done likewise with. Negi sat in his chair while the other two each sat on their beds, facing him.

"Now then, I have something serious that I want to talk to you about..."

Asuna and Konoka seemed to lean in at his words as though afraid they might miss something.

"I want to talk about your grades..."

Without much surprise, Asuna managed to topple out of her bunk, and landed face first on the ground.

"What the hell do you mean our grades?"

"Simple as what I said...I want to let each of you know where you're currently standing before going into the exams. I'm going to let the other girls know tomorrow...but I figure I'd let you two know since I do live here."

"Ah, Negi-kun, thats sweet."

"Eh, Heh. Thanks Konoka-san. ...Well, I suppose I'll get the easier one out of the way."

Asuna didn't like the way Negi had said, 'easier one.'

"Konoka-san...I'm fairly certain you already know this, but you have nothing to worry about going into the exam. You're already in the top five in the class and even if you somehow managed to fail the exam it wouldn't effect your grade much. Basically just be mentally prepared and you should do fine."

"Thanks for the advice Negi-kun."

"No problem...now."

Shifting his gaze to Asuna, who had decided to stay on the floor, he sighed and said, "I don't even know where to begin..."

Asuna grimaced angrily and said, "Whatever. I already know that its hopeless..."

"...Well..not entirely I suppose."

"...Huh?"

"...You've improved actually since the start of term. Right now your resting on the line of passing and failing. This exam determines what you do during spring vacation, I suppose."

"...What do you mean?"

"If you fail the exam you'll have to go to remedial English classes."

For some strange reason Asuna's eyes seemed to light up when he said this, and next thing he understood why.

"Will Takahata-sensei be teaching?"

Negi almost fell out of his chair.

"No he will not be, and neither will I. I don't know who the teacher will be. Isn't it better to just try your hardest and pass."

"...Why bother...I don't have a chance as it is."

"Well...with that attitude you won't."

"What attitude are you talking abou-"

"I'll tutor you!"

"...Eh?"

Asuna was speechless at Negi's sudden outburst. It almost sounded like a love confession.

"I'll tutor you...so you wont fail."

Asuna opened her mouth and closed it slowly. "Negi..."

"Forget about saying anything. I'm the teacher, you're the student. Besides, if you fail and have to spend spring vacation studying, I wont get an ounce of sleep. Its for my sake as well."

Asuna's eyebrow twitched angrily, "Huh? So thats what this is about?"

"...Well, as more of a side objective I suppose."

"...I'll forget I heard that. Okay then lets start the study group! Konoka, care to-"

The door burst open and a large part of Negi's class fell in a heap around the fallen door. Negi and the other two were speechless as the girls fought to untangle themselves.

"Asuna-san, what is the meaning of having a private tutor session with Negi-sensei?" Asked Ayaka.

"Asuna-san share Negi with us," whined the Narutaki twins.

"Asuna-san give Negi-kun to us," said Makie.

Negi looked towards Asuna with a raised eyebrow and said, "Your call." Though he figured he knew what her response would be; and he was correct.

To somebody that was walking in the hallway they would have thought that a bomb had been set off as Asuna screamed in fury.

"GET...OUT."

In one fluid motion she managed to throw the newcomers out into a pile in the hallway. Picking the door up she quickly kicked it back into place and locked it before the girls could break back in. From outside Negi could hear the complaints of the girls as they wished to be let back in.

Turning back around Negi saw that Asuna's face was flushed angrily as she sat back down.

"Jeez, can't they show even a little respect now and then."

"...I wouldn't really have minded if I had to teach them also though." Though, in the back of his mind he thought, 'The more I can get them to learn before the exams the better off I'll be.'

"Well, I don't want everybody in my room."

It was at that point that a mischievous grin appeared on Konoka's face. "Are you sure its just because you didn't want to share Negi-kun with them?"

Asuna blinked several times before a slight tinge of pink appeared across her face. Though she still managed to keep a firm voice as she said, "Tch, I couldn't care less if he wanted to give the others private tutoring lessons."

Glancing at Negi, Asuna saw that he was looking over some practice papers as though he wanted to start right away. Truthfully, her heart wasn't in it anymore.

"You know what...forget it. I'll study tomorrow."

"...Asuna-san, don't you think it'd be better to start now?"

"...sorry not happening. I'll worry about that tomorrow when I feel like it."

Sighing, Negi said, "Fine, fine. Just be sure that you pass."

"Why are you so set on me passing. Is it because of-"

"Spring vacation wouldn't be the same without you..."

This time Asuna did blush heavily and turned away before Negi could see it, "Ba-Baka! Don't get saying stupid stuff like that."

"No...well, its true."

"Fine, I get it. I'll try."

"Good to hear."

Turning back to his desk, Negi tossed the papers back on it and thought about the days to come. He could only hope that his class would have a sudden burst of inspiration.

* * *

School was much the same the following day. Negi gave everybody a handout letting them know where their grade was. Overall, most of his students seemed to understand the course material fairly well. It was the fact that no one seemed to ever study for the tests that they always ranked the lowest. He had hoped to turn that around today by convincing them that studying was the key to doing well on the exam. He felt that they hardly took in a word of what he said.

Then there was the problem with the legendary Baka Rangers. If anything was going to kick him out of the school, it was going to be them. Asuna, Makie, Ku Fei, Kaede, and Yue had never passed any test above a seventy. In Yue's case he thought it was stupid that she didn't study as she was exceptionally smart. An hour of studying before tests and she could easily be ranked within the top five in the class.

After class Negi was sitting under a tree, in the courtyard, pouring over the last assignments before the tests. If his class did the same thing as they did on what he saw in front of him, then there shouldn't be a problem. Though he knew from experience that you could forget everything you learned just because of stress.

As he leaned back against the tree he wondered if he shouldn't have the Baka Rangers stay behind tomorrow for some extra lessons. Though last minute crams sometimes didn't work as you'd think they would. It was something that he was worried about with Asuna. Even if she spent the next two days doing nothing but studying, he wasn't sure how much it'd help in the long run.

"Hey Negi. I wanted to ask you something..."

Negi sat bolt upright, abandoning his slouched position against the tree. Looking up he saw that Asuna was kneeling in front of him with a frown on her face. After realizing it was only her though, he slouched once more against the tree and let out an exasperated sigh.

"What...its only you..."

"...Whats your problem?"

"Nothing." 'Unless you count the thought of being sacked,' he thought sullenly.

Smiling slightly, he said, "So, whats up?"

Asuna quickly turned her head to the right and then to the left as though checking if anyone was nearby. After making sure nobody would be able to hear them, she quietly said, "I just wondered if there was a way to make me smarter...you know with magic. Just for the exams though."

Negi frowned heavily up at her before standing up. Brushing the loose leaves and grass clippings off his slacks, he sighed and said, "There's a way, but its not something that I'd consider doing."

"Why? Whats the harm in it?"

"First and foremost, thats cheating. Second there are some heavy repercussions that I wouldn't consider putting you through."

"...What are they?"

"Brain damage," he said simply.

"Brain...huh?"

"You'd become stupider then you already are...which is saying a lot, I suppose."

"Take that back you baka!"

"...Only stating the obvious."

Negi was rather surprised as Asuna's shoulders seemed to slump as she mumbled, "I know..."

Trying to take back what he said, Negi quickly waved his hands in front of his face and said, "No, I didn't mean to be rude. But if you do well on the test without cheating, you'll feel like you actually accomplished something."

"I know! I can't help it if I'm bad at English. I have absolutely no problems in P.E."

"...Thats a given..."

"What was that!"

"...Nothing. Besides I told you that I would tutor you, and thats what I plan on doing. Though I might ask the other Baka Rangers to-"

"Don't call me a Baka Ranger!"

"-participate in the study session. The other four could use the help."

"Why are you worrying about whether everyone passes or not? While I can understand that its your job as a teacher I feel that you're overreacting too much."

Negi felt as though he had hit a brick wall. Scratching the back of his head in a confused sort of way, he said, "Really? I don't feel that I've overreacted at all."

Asuna stood there for a moment, squinting at his face which had produced a fake smile. Eventually the words came out of her mouth that he had hoped she wouldn't ask.

"Is there something that you're not telling me?"

Negi froze for a second before saying, "Uh...not particularly."

Without even thinking about it, Asuna said, "You're lying...aren't you."

"What would I have to lie about?"

"Thats why I'm asking you, baka!"

Negi seemed to deflate on the spot under Asuna's reproachful gaze.

Crossing her arms she started tapping her forefinger against the side of her arm in an annoyed way.

"Well?"

"...Well...truth is...I'll be sacked unless class 2-A isn't at the bottom of this years class exams."

Asuna froze in mid tap with shock written all over her face.

"H-Hu-HUH! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL BE SACKED!"

"Just repeating what the dean said. Its something like a final trial I guess."

"But thats absurd! We've always been at the bottom! How the hell can you accomplish something that even Takahata-sensei failed to do!"

"...Thanks for reminding me how impossible it is."

"This is stupid! What kind of a trial is that?"

"No clue...not like I have any options though."

"...I think I have an idea Negi-sensei."

Negi slammed his head into the back of the tree in his surprise at the voice of Yue. Rubbing the back of his head, he could feel a large egg sized lump were he had hit the tree.

The first thing he wondered was, 'How much did she hear?'

Glancing worriedly at Asuna she returned the same worried glance. How much had Yue overheard? If she had been listening while Negi had been telling Asuna about the spell to make you smarter, well, he may as well forget about the exams as he would be turned into a ferret.

Acting as though he already knew that answer, he asked Yue, "Err...Yue-san...what did you hear exactly?"

"...That you would be sacked if Class 2-A didn't do well on the exams. Is it true?"

Negi felt relief somewhere deep inside him. So she hadn't found out about him being a mage. Even so, there was still the problem about her finding out that he could be sacked. Well he saw no use in denying it so he nodded his head.

"...Whats your idea then..."

"I don't know how much of it is based on truth or not. But deep inside Library Island is supposedly a book that makes you exceptionally smart if you read it. Its only supposed to be a legend, and as far as I know nobody has ever found it. But if something like that exists then it would ensure that everybody passes."

A magic book that gave you wisdom. Negi felt as though he had heard about it somewhere before.

"...It sounds like it could work...but I still don't know. It'd still be considered cheating."

"Negi-sensei, everybody wants you to stay, and if by finding this book we can help in anyway-"

"I know. But what if we get caught?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm part of the Library Exploration club. We've mapped out most of the library and know our way around well enough. The only thing we'd have to worry about is traps."

Negi didn't like the sound of traps very much, but didn't see any other options. He went with it.

"Okay. Yue-san...wait, Nodoka-san is part of the club also, right?"

Yue nodded.

"Good meet us at Library Island tonight at...ten. I'd prefer to do this while the others are sleeping. We'll bring Konoka-san along also since she's part of the club."

"...Do you want anybody else to know about this?"

Negi thought for a minute and the sudden image of the Baka Rangers poised for battle came to his mind.

"I have an idea for that, me and Asuna-san will take care of it."

Yue nodded and hurried off in the direction of the dormitories to fetch Nodoka.

After watching Yue disappear up the stairs out of the courtyard, he turned to Asuna and said. "Asuna-san, do you have a way to get in touch with the other Baka Rangers?"

"Stop calling us Baka Rangers, and yes I have their phone numbers."

"Call them and tell them to meet us at Library Island around ten."

"What if they ask why?"

Negi paused for a minute before saying, "If they ask anything tell them that I need their help with something. That should be enough to make them want to come."

"...What is this about?"

"I'll explain later...we need to tell Konoka-san about this."

"Hmmm. Okay."

As Negi and Asuna rushed towards the dormitories, Negi didn't realize how many school rules he had already broken and shattered to pieces.

* * *

That night, around ten o'clock, a large group of people gathered together at the entrance to Library Island.

As Negi looked around at the Baka Rangers and the other two, he couldn't help but feel some sort of pride from his class. They hadn't even hesitated when he asked for their help. Though he felt as though he should thoroughly explain himself now.

"...Well, I suppose most of you want to know why I've asked for you to come here while its night, and I guess I should start with the fact that I could get sacked if class 2-A doesn't do well on the exams."

Silence greeted his words as the other girls; with the exception of Yue and Asuna, took a few moments to realize what he had said. Then, with the force of a dam letting loose all its water, they all started talking at once.

Negi was bombarded from question from all sides and it took them several minutes to calm them down. After getting them to calm down he nodded to Yue and she started explaining the legend of the book of wisdom.

After a rather lengthly explanation by Yue, Makie raised her hand and asked, "So...we just need to read the book?"

"...I think so," replied Yue.

"Then lets go! To protect Negi-kun's teaching future."

"...Thanks everyone..."

"Don't worry about it Negi-sensei. Its our turn now to help you."

"I wont have any complaints as long as none of us gets caught. I don't think the dean would be to happy about this." He said this while glancing at Konoka, though she didn't seem to notice.

Continuing, he said, "Okay, so. Yue-san will take me and the Baka Rangers deep into Library Island to find this book. Nodoka-san and Konoka-san will stay behind and maintain communication with us. I hope to be out of there before noon tomorrow, but if something happens, and we don't get back until later, I want you two," he said while pointing at Nodoka and Konoka. "To tell everybody what we we're doing, and to prepare for the test. And that means studying," he finished with a slight grimace."

"...N-Negi-sensei...we shall do are best."

"Thanks Nodoka-san."

Nodoka blushed a deep scarlet and started fiddling with the hem of her school uniform.

"Okay then! Let the Great Library Expedition begin," shouted Asuna.

They all gave a hearty reply and entered the library.

* * *

After dawning proper headgear with headlamps on them, Yue determined that they were ready to enter the sea of shelves and books. She and Negi each had a radio that they were able to contact Konoka and Nodoka with. If anything happened, they hoped that one of them would be able to call for help.

After following Yue down a series of steps, they came to a large oak door with brass doorknobs. Even Negi was unable to hold the sharp intake of breath that escaped him as she opened the doors.

A large walkway opened out before them, with shelves upon shelves of books packed neatly together on either side of them.

"This is incredible," gasped Makie. "There must be a billion books here!"

"The Library Exploration Club is supposed to keep tabs on each of the books and record the arrival of new books. We have a register that dates back to the days when the school was first established. Whenever somebody needs a book it can take us several hours just to find it sometimes."

"How are we even supposed to find this...book we're looking for with all these other books," asked Ku Fei?

Yue held up a map in her hand to answer the question.

"The map I have here is quite old but was completed by the first Library Exploration Club. Its sort of like a reference for us if we ever need to go deep within Library Island. I've never been to where we're supposed to go though so it might take me some time to find it."

"...What was that thing you said about traps though?"

"We shouldn't have to worry about that in the upper section of the library. As we get lower though we'll have to start being more cautious."

With the question that had been nagging Negi for the past few minutes answered, his eyes wandered back towards the scene in front of him. He knew that Mahora Academy had some heavy roots in magical learning, but he would never have guessed this large array of books. Certainly there were books here that could teach him some powerful magic. And then there was the book of wisdom that they were looking for. If that didn't scream magic, he wasn't sure what could.

"We should probably hurry up though everyone," said Yue suddenly. "We still have a long ways to go before we find what were looking for."

"Just how many floors does this place have anyway?"

"...Well...according to the map there are a total of six floors that continue down...at least, thats what has been mapped. There is still the possibility that more exists. I myself have only ever been to the third floor though Nodoka has been to the fourth floor a couple of times. She doesn't really like to talk about it."

"But, wont the book we're looking for be on the very bottom?"

"Most likely..."

Asuna felt a sinking feeling suddenly settle into her stomach.

"How long is this supposed to take again?"

"...At most a day I suppose..."

"A day! I have a job that I have to go to everyday!"

Shrugging, Yue said, "You were the one that was most excited for this trip. Besides, you still want to keep Negi as a teacher...don't you?"

"...O-Only because Iincho would kill me if I didn't help out."

"Asuna-san isn't being honest with herself."

"Makie-san..."

Asuna shot a death glare at Makie, and in Makie's sudden fear of her life, she managed to stumble slightly, sending her right foot over the edge of the narrow path that they were walking on.

The entire thing happened in slow motion as Makie let out a surprised, "Huh," as she started falling backwards into the bottomless pit of which nobody had fallen and survived.

Asuna rushed forward suddenly, hoping that she would be able to reach her in time, but knew in some corner of her mind that it would be hopeless.

"Makie-san!"

Standing at the very edge of the precipice Asuna stretched her hand towards Makie as though beckoning her to return only to realize that she was grasping thin air. As Asuna's mouth opened in sudden realization that she was not going to make it, she felt a rush of wind beside her and turned just in time to a streak of red hair fly past her.

Negi jumped off the side of the walkway, grabbing Makie's wrist while yelling back at Asuna, "Grab my feet Asuna-san."

Coming out of her sudden stupor, Asuna reacted suddenly and dove over the side. While keep her toes planted firmly on the ground she reached out and grabbed Negi's ankle, making him hang suspended from a sure death experience.

Breathing rather haphazardly; which had nothing to do with the fact that he was hanging an unknown number of feet in the air, he quickly pulled Makie closer to him, before wrapping an arm around her waist, and holding her close to his chest.

"Asuna-san...hurry and pull us up already."

"...I-It's taking everything I have just to hold on to you. How the hell am I supposed to hall you-"

She was cut off however as Ku Fei and Kaede grabbed both of her feet, and practically made her do a backflip, as they pulled her back up.

As Negi felt his feet touch solid ground, he looked down at Makie and realized she had her eyes firmly closed and was shivering uncontrollably.

"...Makie-san...its okay now."

Makie opened one of her eyes at Negi's voice and was surprised to be staring at his chest.

"Eh...N-N-Ne-Negi...k-kun!"

Blushing furiously, she dove backwards, holding her face in her hands, and peeking through them.

"Wh-Wh-Why were you ho-ho-holding me?"

"...Well you fell, and I caught you."

"...Huh?"

"I think she has short term memory loss," whispered Ku Fei.

"You fell off the side of this path, and Negi caught you. Can we please continue on now?" Said Asuna with an annoyed look on her face.

Yue nodded and started walking on as though nothing happened. Ku Fei, Kaede, and Makie (who was still blushing) continued following Yue. Asuna seemed to have a sudden fit, but let it pass and was just about to start walking forward when Negi grabbed her arm.

"Negi what are you-"

Negi was silent for a moment, letting the others continue on a little ways, giving Asuna enough time to hiss back, "What the hell do you think you're-"

"Sorry...I have to talk to you about something. Walk with me for a bit, but stay far enough away from the others so that they wont be able to hear us."

Asuna felt her heart skip a beat and her over reactive imagination kicked in.

'He wants to talk to me. Why? Why would he want to talk to me without the others knowing? Wait...alone...in the dark...AHAHAHA. No, calm down Asuna. Negi's not like that, he would never say a confession somewhere like this. No wait...he doesn't have a clue about romance anyway. Besides, I have Takahata-sensei. Well, no, thats not true. I haven't confessed to him, but I'm sure that he has feelings for me. He just doesn't want to admit them."

"...Asuna-san, are you listening to me?"

Nudging her lightly in her ribcage with his elbow, she jumped several feet in the air. Gratefully she didn't yell at him but she did hiss back, "What you idiot?"

"...What were you just think-"

"Nothing!"

"Okay, okay. Well, since you didn't seem to be listening the first time I'll repeat myself."

"...Fine..."

"Anyway...I just wanted to let you know that under no circumstances am I going to use magic."

"So thats why you dove of the edge to rescue Makie-san? I thought you were just trying to be cool."

"...Do you honestly think that?"

"Okay...no. I don't. But that can't be the only reason that you pulled me aside."

"No...its not. This book we're looking for...I've heard of it before, at least...I think I have."

"Then it is magic?"

"Thats a given. But this specific book; at least if I remember correctly, was banned from the magic community. All related scripts related to it were destroyed."

"Why?"

"Because it was a forbidden artifact. The knowledge that could be gained from it could destroy the readers body. It supposedly contains some ancient magic powerful enough to destroy a planet"

"Then why the hell are we looking for this?"

"...Well its to late now anyway."

"Then what are we supposed to do if we find it?"

"I'll take care of that."

"Sure you will," said Asuna as she rolled her eyes.

"Also, be careful where you step. The traps that we encounter could be dangerous."

"Baka! I can take care of myself."

"...You say that and end up needing help."

"When have I ever-"

"Schoolwork."

That shut Asuna up quickly and she took a step forward only to be yanked backwards by Negi.

"What are you-"

An arrows shot directly across the path where she had been moments before.

Sighing as though he expected nothing less, Negi said, "See what I mean. Be more careful next time. You really are a klutz sometimes, you know."

Even though Negi had called her a klutz she felt slightly better since he had been watching out for her well being.

"Fine, I got it. I'll watch my step-"

"Or I could carry you, if you want."

The idea suddenly struck Negi and he had absolutely no idea why he said it and was unable to take it back as Asuna's hand came whipping around to strike him in the cheek.

"Not in your life baka!"

Stomping off furiously, Negi heard things like, "Who does he think he's kidding," and, "not if I was on my death bed." Really she didn't have to flip out that badly. Besides, he had already carried her several times before.

Speeding up slightly, he continued on, following slightly behind everyone else, while all the time keeping an eye on Asuna in case she needed any help.

* * *

They walked for what felt like an eternity, pausing only once for a break before continuing on with their expedition. If they weren't doing something so sudden and foolhardy, Negi would have loved to spent some more time examining all the books around himself. He spent most of his time in the library at the university in Wales after all.

They passed many different scenarios where they had to wade through waist deep water, army crawl through several tight spaces (during which Negi had to wear a blind fold, courtesy of Asuna, so he wouldn't look up), walk along the top of several book cases while hopping to the next one, and swing across a large crevasse using a rope that Yue had fortunately brought.

Eventually they felt themselves sinking deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of mazes that the library had to offer. Though as they passed each level they could start to feel a change in the temperature and knew that they were getting closer and closer to there destination.

Yue had long since abandoned her knowledge of where they were and was solely relying on the map now. More than once they had to stop so she could locate exactly where they were and Negi was reminded just how big Library Island was.

Now they entered a wide hall that was admitting a weird orange glow that lit up the whole room. As the group entered the chamber they saw that the orange glow was in fact the magic book that they were looking for. In the back round of the book was a stone statue that seemed to be placed there as intimidation. Almost as though it was guarding it...

Makie and Asuna ran forward at the sudden realization that they had found the magical book, Asuna completely forgetting about Negi's warning in the process. Ku Fei, Kaede, and Yue did likewise afterwards and only Negi was left by the entrance as he continued to stare at the magical book several yards in front of himself.

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he suddenly remembered that the book was called Merkisedek, and it wasn't something suitable for children to read. Not that the girls were considered children, but all at once Negi felt that what they were doing was a mistake. If they read even a single line out of that book...well, he didn't want to think about it.

Coming out of his sudden lapse in concentration, he yelled, "Wait everyone! Don't run at it suddenly; it might be...trapped."

At the sudden pause in his sentence the floor gave way and the girls fell down about two feet to a rock slab that was directly below them.

Negi rushed forward and peered over the edge and felt that all hope was lost. If they were supposed to do what he thought they had to do. Well, he may as was well start packing.

His fears were confirmed as the statue standing behind the book shuddered violently and came to life. With eyes glowing, it took several steps forward and said in a booming voice, "If you wish to obtain this book then you must pass a serious of trials!"

The girls all looked around at each other; not one of them seemed to have realized what they were standing on.

"You must play a game of twister, spelling the words that I give you by placing your arms, legs and other limbs on the Hiragana symbols on the floor."

Looking down at the floor, the girls realized what they had been standing on the entire time. A giant twister board, made out of stone was directly beneath them, with Japanese symbols written on them.

"The first word is...difficult."

All five of the Baka Rangers cocked there heads to the side as though they didn't understand. Difficult? Wasn't that an English word?

Seeing that they needed some help, Negi glanced at the stone statue before saying to the girls, "What he means is that you have to spell the Japanese version of difficult, as in translate difficult into Japanese."

"How in the world are we supposed to do that?" barked Asuna.

Getting slightly annoyed, Negi yelled back, "Just think what the opposite of easy is!"

His outburst/hint had apparently achieved what he didn't realize it was capable of as the girls realized what it was and placed there hands on the correct symbols.

'At least they understand what they have to do now. But still...what happens if they aren't able to reach the symbols at the end?' Thought Negi worriedly. 'I can't just see this stone statue letting us go if we failed. The book is here obviously so that other mages wouldn't find it and exploit its magic. But the thought of normal middle schoolers finding it is absolutely absurd. And then what is this twister game about. Surely somebody lacking English knowledge wouldn't be able to complete it, but a high class mage could turn this statue to dust particles in a second.'

As Negi brooded over the possibilities of what would happen if they lost, the girls were steadily continuing through the questions. Soon their bodies were so entangled that when Negi looked at them for the first time in several minutes, he didn't think they would ever untangled themselves. Though one thing he had to admit was that it would have been impossible without Makie, Ku Fei, and Kaede. Makie he could understand, because she took gymnastics, but how could Ku Fei and Kaede bend their bodies in such...odd ways. All he knew was that if he tried to bend his body in such ways, he would break more than just his back.

After a slight pause as they completed the previous question, the stone statue opened its lopsided mouth and said, "Final Question: ...Monkey."

'They've got this,' thought Negi suddenly. 'Monkey is a word that they should have no problem remembering.'

As the knowledge of what the translation was hit the girls they all twisted and turned their bodies to try and see if they could reach the correct symbols.

"I've got Sa," said Ku Fei suddenly as she tilted her entire body backwards and rested her head on the correct symbol.

"Anybody able to reach Ru?" Asked Yue.

"I...think I can," said Asuna as she twisted around and stretched her arm towards the symbol.

'Just a little more,' she thought.

With one last great stretch, which threatened to tare her arm out of its socket, she managed to place her hand on the symbol that she was aiming for.

"Alright we did it," yelled Asuna in triumph. Though the sounds of celebration were lost within the others that were glaring at her.

"What?" She asked hesitantly.

Even Negi was surprised at how dim witted she just was. Running his hands over his face he said, "Asuna-san...look down and tell me where your hand is..."

"...What do you mean..."

Asuna looked over to where her hand was. It was sorta hard to tell what the symbol was because it was so small and she was tilted in a way that forced her eyes to cross so that she could see it. After blinking her eyes several times she realized how big of a mistake she had made. Her hand was not resting on Ru which was directly to the left of where her hand currently was, but instead on Ro.

Looking at the others and Negi, she said with a hint of embarrassment, "Ah...sorry?"

All the other girls yelled back at her, but their voices were drowned out instantly as the stone statue said in a loud booming voice, "FALSE!"

Moving quicker then Negi could have guessed, the stone statue brought its fist down directly at the edge of the twister board, splitting the stone down the middle. Negi had just enough time to realize that he was about to abandon his promise of not using magic when the floor beneath the girls opened up and the stones they were on, started to fall into a bottomless hole.

During the time that he rushed towards the square like hole that had opened up he heard many shrieks and yells and a few that seemed to be pointed at Asuna's stupidity.

Peering over the edge he couldn't make out how far the hole went, but could only assume the worst. Glancing up at the giant stone statue, he realized that it had returned to its position behind the book, and yet, it seemed to be smirking at the predicament that he had gotten himself into.

Shaking of this needless worry, he did a front flip into the hole, and quickly found that there was no wall on either side of him. It almost seemed that the room above him had been floating unsupported while below there was a wide chasm of nothingness.

'I suppose nobody is around to see this,' he thought suddenly before executed several wind steps making himself speed faster and faster down what could have been a laundry shoot. Except he had no idea where he would end up.

Soon he felt the numbness in his ears settle in as the rush of wind became too much for his body to handle and thought he felt something warm trickling down the side of his face. He had never moved this fast in his life and assumed that his body was reacting to the sudden change in air pressure.

As his mind started to turn blank he thought he saw several moving objects in front of him. Forcing himself to stop, by changing the air circulation in his feet, he felt himself slow down tremendously and felt a sharp pain in his head. It felt like his brain had just missed a second of vital oxygen.

In front of him were the five girls, all in a free fall, though oddly enough he didn't hear a word from any of them. Did they all go into shock?

Willing himself to speak, it felt like his voice came out raspy and hoarse, but it still came out.

"OI,...everyone...wake up!"

His words seemed to trigger something in their subconscious and Kaede was the first to speak, soon followed by Ku Fei. Makie, Yue, and Asuna still seemed to be in shock. Negi had no idea how Kaede and Ku Fei seemed to come out of there shock so easily, but it made him think of a plan

"Negi...sensei? Whats..."

"Sorry I can't explain-"

Pain hit his head hard and he could feel a severe headache not many minutes away and forced himself to speak.

"...Listen quickly...cause I'm not gonna be awake much longer. Kaede-san...grab Yue-san and be sure not to let go of her. Ku Fei-san...do likewise with Makie-san. If we should separate I want everyone to have a partner that they can rely on."

"What about Asu-"

"I'll worry about her...just find your partner and be sure not to let go."

"...Do you know whats at the bottom?"

Somehow Negi was able to chuckle, even in this situation. Speaking wearily he said, "Hopefully a thousand pillows to cushion the fall."

"That would be nice, Negi-sensei," said Kaede, before shifting her body so that she was able to grab a hold of Yue's wrist.

Seeing that the both of them had grabbed there respected partners, Negi willed his body to move to Asuna. Aligning himself so that he was directed next to her, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his chest while flipping over in mid air so that his back would hit bottom first. Though it was something that he didn't want to think about.

Sighing at the predicament he was in, he thought, 'Didn't think things would turn out this way, and even though it is technically her fault, I feel no anger at her. If anything its my fault for going along with this. Well, as long as her and the others are okay, I guess I wont mind if I get injured a little.'

Closing his eyes he waited for the sudden impact that was sure to await him when Asuna stirred in his arms.

"...Baka..."

Negi almost let go of her at the sudden contempt in her voice. How on earth could she first: know it was him, and second: call him an idiot when he was protecting her?

"How did you know it was me?"

"...Nobody else would hold me this tightly..."

Again, Negi almost let go in his surprise. She was able to tell that it was him because of how tightly he held her? That made no sense."

"Isn't this normal?"

"...I don't know...but nor do I care."

Looking down, Negi could just see the outline of her face and thought that he saw streaks of tears flying off her face.

As Negi looked away from her he felt her arms, which had been resting on his chest a moment ago, wrap around his back; and her hands form at the base of his neck.

"You idiot. You pushed yourself to hard again. I can tell somehow... I'm gonna kill you when we get out of this..."

Negi almost laughed. Craning his head so that he was able to look at what was to come, he saw a bright light that seemed to be something you'd see at the end of the tunnel. His last thought was how blue it seemed as they came falling out of the hole and into the water below.


End file.
